Yes, sire
by HellPhoenix
Summary: Merlin Emrys has been sent away to live with his uncle because of problems at school, but at his first day in Camelot High, he gets into new trouble. This trouble in particular has a name: Arthur Pendragon. AU, slash, rated M for later chapters.
1. Arthur Pendragon

"Come on, Merlin. Get up. You need to go to school."

Merlin groaned, opening his eyes tiredly. "I'm tired, Uncle Gaius. I don't want to go." He sat up abruptly when Gaius slapped his cheek; not hard, but it was enough to wake him up properly. "It's just going to be the same thing all over again," he argued as he got out of bed and shuffled over to the closet to find something to wear. "People aren't going to like me. I honestly don't see how my mother thought I was going to have a better life if she sent me away."

"She has faith in you, Merlin," came Gaius' cryptic answer, making Merlin roll his eyes as he pulled a T-shirt over his head.

Merlin had moved into town just a few days earlier. He'd had problems at school in his old town. It had never been anything to worry about, according to Merlin himself, but over the years, the bullying had gotten worse, and his mother had sent him away to live with his uncle Gaius for a while, hoping that things would get better if he got away for a while.

But Merlin didn't want to leave. At least he'd had a friend back in Ealdor. Here, he had nothing and no one. The only person he knew was Gaius, and he was pretty sure it was going to stay that way. People never liked him. In fact, they tended to do just the opposite.

He kept arguing all morning, even as Gaius was dropping him off at school. He'd wanted to take the bus, but Gaius insisted on driving him. If someone was going to bully him, he had said, the bus was the best place to do it. No teachers.

"Seriously, I don't think this is a good idea," Merlin complained as he still sat in the car, parked along the road, next to the school Merlin would be attending. "Even you know how it's going to be, Gaius. Nothing's going to change."

"It's only for half a year," the old man said in an attempt to comfort him. "Until things have calmed down back in Ealdor, and you can go to school without getting a black eye."

Merlin sighed loudly, sensing his loss. "She told you about that," he mumbled. "It's nothing I can't handle. I don't see why she had to send me here."

"If you can handle the problems you had back home, then I'm sure you can handle whatever happens to you here." Gaius smiled his mysterious smile, making Merlin groan as he was urged our of the car.

"Fine. But don't blame me if I come home with a broken nose."

"I'll pick you up at four," Gaius said, ignoring Merlin's words. "Or you can just call me if you want to go home. And by home, I don't mean Ealdor."

Merlin rolled his eyes as he flung his messenger bag over his shoulder. "I'll take the bus," he said shortly before slamming the car door shut after him and turning his back on Gaius.

Really, he couldn't understand the reason why he was there. If people disliked him in Ealdor, they would dislike him here. Not to mention, he was starting school in the middle of the semester. If his mother had hoped he would make friends, she should have sent him away a couple of months earlier. People transferring in the middle of the school year never made any friends. It was the golden rule of high school.

He had received his schedule and the code to his locker per e-mail, so all he had to do was dump the pile of books he was carrying in his bag into the locker and head for his first class: English literature.

Most of the seats were taken, and he had to sit in front of a really obnoxious blonde that kept throwing little pieces of paper at him. Not that it bothered him much, but the symphony of chuckles from the blonde and his friends that started when Merlin flinched even in the slightest, was starting to become annoying.

They became quiet, at last, when the teacher entered and started calling up the names of the students. However, when he loudly announced: "Merlin Emrys," and Merlin mumbled a faint yes, raising his hand, the annoying boy behind him began chuckling again.

"Merlin Emrys," Merlin heard him say. "Quite some name. When was he born, in the medieval ages? Maybe he's an elf!" The blonde and his friends laughed louder, and the voice that was by now very familiar to Merlin, shouted out: "Hey, everyone! We have an elf in our class! Just look at those ears of his!"

Merlin just started into his desk, trying to ignore the very irritating voice, as he heard the teacher clear his throat. "Not that this is any of my business, as I trust you to point out later," he said slowly, and Merlin could almost hear a frown in his voice. "But do you really think you have a say in the matter of names, Pendragon?"

Merlin almost smiled, but it was slowly wiped off his face when the voice behind him replied cheerfully: "Touché, teacher."

The teacher looked more than just a little irritated, but he went on with the class, and Merlin was content just paying attention. For almost as long as he could remember, school work had been how he kept his mind off everything else. He could just concentrate on a literary masterpiece or an especially challenging equation, and he'd sink into another world, where he didn't have to worry about what others thought of him.

He quickly became the new favourite student of all the teachers, considering how polite and well-mannered he was, adding to the fact that he knew the answer to almost every single question they asked. He had studied hard back in Ealdor. It wasn't as if he'd had anything better to do with his time, apart from the occasional movie night with his best friend Will.

What annoyed him, though, was that the person he soon learned was called Arthur Pendragon, was in every single one of his classes. By lunch time, he had gotten his own personal bully, that he could never get away from, considering they sat fairly close to each other in every class they had together. Which was _every_ class.

By lunch time, he had also found out that Arthur Pendragon ruled the school. Literally. Everyone was afraid of him, and everyone did as he said, apart from the occasional strict comment from the teachers. But he never got in trouble, even though his actions through half of the school day would have been enough to get anyone else in detention for two weeks.

As Merlin sat down by a table in the cafeteria during lunch, he heard that voice again. "Emrys," it said loudly, slowly, as if tasting it. "Merlin." His fist name was said in the same way, and Merlin sighed, looking up from his meal to see Arthur Pendragon standing above him.

"What?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

"See, Merlin, this is my table," the blonde said, smiling in a rather odd way. "Now, everyone can make mistakes, so if you move now and see to that this never happens again, I might just let it slip my mind."

"Your table?" Merlin asked, sounding amused. Not even the boys in Ealdor had been this stuck-up. "I don't see your name on it, _Pendragon._"

Arthur leaned down, placing his hands on the table, his face only inches from Merlin's, radiating anger. "_Move_, Emrys. Now."

"Alright," Merlin said dully, picking up the tray of food as he got up. "As you wish, Your Highness." He made to walk past Arthur, but tripped over something, lost control of his movements, and ended up spilling his lunch all over Arthur's white shirt.

"Idiot!" the blonde exclaimed, lunging at him. Merlin ducked, but it didn't take more than a second before Arthur caught a hold of the front of his shirt, pulling him closer. "Do you have any idea what a shirt like this costs?" He took a pause, laughing bitterly. "Well, of course you don't. A peasant like yourself probably doesn't even know what silk is."

"Silk?" Merlin asked, failing to hold back a chuckle. This was probably why he always got in trouble, and the reason why everyone in Ealdor hated him. The exceptions were, of course, his mother and Will. "Really? Who even wears silk anymore?"

Arthur yanked violently at his shirt, making Merlin flinch. "You obviously don't. These stains are never going to wear off," he said melodramatically, gesturing to the tomato sauce staining his otherwise pearly white shirt. Merlin had to concentrate not to roll his eyes.

"Okay, okay," he said, holding his hands up. "I'll pay for it, and you can get a new one. How much did it cost?"

"Three hundred pounds," Arthur replied coldly.

Merlin choked. "Three hundred...?"

"It was custom-made." The expression on the blonde's face was cold and dead serious. "Though I expect you haven't got that kind of money."

"Well, you're right about that," Merlin muttered, swallowing.

"I'll tell you what," Arthur said, and the cold look in his eyes turned into a mischievous one. "You work for me for the rest of the school year. You follow me everywhere, do everything I ask you to, and you act like my servant in all other ways. And at the end of the year, I shall see if that is enough to pay off your debts."

Merlin was dumbstruck. He really couldn't believe the nerve of this guy. Who ever got this worked up over a shirt? But considering his current situation, he figured he was in no position to deny. So he nodded, mumbling a faint "Yes, sir," instinctively holding a hand up to his throat at Arthur let him go.

"Good," the blonde said, and for the first time, Merlin noticed that no one was looking at them, even though the cafeteria was full of people. As if this was something that happened every day. But considering Arthur's attitude, it wouldn't surprise Merlin if it did. Arthur probably had twenty other servants running around and obeying his every command. "Your first task will be to take notes for me in class while I go home to change. And make sure they teachers don't mark me as absent. I do have my servant there to take notes for me, after all."

Merlin nodded, hearing himself mumble: "Yes, Arthur."

"And don't call me by my first name, Emrys." Arthur had a deadly look in his eyes, which were a beautiful shade of dark blue.

"Understood, Pendragon."

As Arthur left, Merlin glanced nervously around him, and left the cafeteria, heading for his and Arthur's next class, even if there was still time left of lunch break. He might as well catch up on some studying, if he was going to spend all his time from now on being the blonde's servant.

The teacher was in the classroom when he got there. She was fairly young, with dark skin and black, curly hair. When Merlin entered, she looked up at him with a smile. "You must be Merlin Emrys, the young genius that all the teachers are talking about," she said, smiling softly.

"Yes, ma'am," Merlin said quietly, moving to find a seat.

"That one in the front is available," the young woman said, pointing towards one of the desks. "In the corner. You'll have to sit next to Arthur Pendragon, though, but I suppose no one has ever died from being close to him and his cockiness."

"I think I might," Merlin groaned as he dumped down in his chair. "By the way, he asked me to tell you not to mark him as absent. He went home to change shirts after I accidentally spilt tomato sauce on it."

The teacher laughed heartily. "Oh, my," she said, chuckling. "I bet he's fairly pissed about that."

"Well, yes," Merlin replied, for a brief second wondering why he was talking to a teacher. "Apparently, I have to be his servant for the rest of the year."

"He must really dislike you, then," the woman concluded as she sat down next to Merlin. "But don't worry about it, he's not going to kill you, even if he might seem like it. Arthur likes to scare people, but he's not half as intimidating as he likes to pretend he is."

"You seem to know him very well," Merlin commented.

"I know his sister," the teacher replied, still smiling softly. "She is far less spoilt and stuck-up, in case you were wondering. By the way, my name is Guinevere du Lac. You might call me Gwen."

Merlin smiled faintly. "If you don't mind me asking, Gwen, how old are you?"

"I'm twenty," she replied, still smiling that awfully cheerful smile. "Young for a teacher, I know, but I graduated early from high school, and I just became a teacher this year." She looked carefully at Merlin, as if measuring him, before she spoke again: "If you ever need a friend, or someone to hear embarrassing stories about Arthur from, I'm here, Merlin. You look like you could need a friend."

"You know most students aren't best friends with their teachers, right?" Merlin joked, finally smiling as well.

"I know." Gwen shrugged her shoulders. "But you're not most students. Showing up in class a whole fifteen minutes before the lesson begins is proof enough of that."

Merlin grinned mischievously. He liked Gwen. She was relaxed and easy-going, even though he might find it awkward being friends with her, considering she was his teacher. "I might just take you up on that offer of embarrassing stories," he said, and Gwen laughed, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I guessed you would. It's probably going to be easier to deal with being his servant if you have some rather funny situations to put him into."

They sat and talked until right before the bell rang, when Gwen returned to her place in front of the whiteboard, reading through some notes, and Merlin started reading the chapter he assumed they would be studying for the time being.

When the other students entered the classroom, they gave Merlin weird looks, but he ignored them, paying attention as Gwen began talking about England during the medieval ages. He got caught up in the way she talked about it, and in taking notes, and he didn't notice until the end of the lesson that Arthur was back, and had resumed his place next to him.

"You really are a nerd, Emrys," the blonde stated as they walked out of the classroom together, but never looking at him. "Too caught up in your studying to see that your master walks through the door and sits down next to you."

"Yes, sire." Merlin had meant it as a joke, what with Arthur being so obsessed with his 'medieval' name and everything, but it didn't seem that the blonde understood the joke.

"Sire?" he said, sounding amused. "Old-fashioned. I quite like it, actually. You may continue to call me that, Emrys."

"Yes, sire."

The rest of the day went by slowly. Arthur seemed intent on tormenting Merlin. He even got the dark-haired boy to tie his shoelaces for him. But however awkward, Merlin quickly grew into the role of Arthur's servant. He was good at doing what he was told. Not that he was a follower or a push-over, but when one had nothing to do, it was sometimes easier to be told what to do, how to act, and what to think.

Despite seeing Gaius' car when he left school for the day, carrying Arthur's books as well as his own, Merlin stepped into the bus that was driving in the direction of his new home. Unfortunately, Arthur was on that same bus, and so, he had to go through another twenty minutes of being Arthur Pendragon's servant, before he could get off the bus and go home.

The day had gone fairly well, though, even though he had just lost his freedom to a stuck-up rich guy. But it could have been worse. He could have been forced to wear a school uniform. He could have had his head shoved into the toilet. He could have come home with a fractured cheek bone and three cracked ribs. But that hadn't happened, had it? And since Arthur seemed to be the only one in a position for bullying at the school, he didn't believe things were going to get much worse, unless he did something to upset his new master, of course.

"You seem to be carrying a lot more books than just your own," Gaius pointed out at dinner, when Merlin had to remove his books from the kitchen table to make room for eating. He had been doing homework ever since he got back from school, and was probably going to have to continue until late in the evening.

"What do you mean?" Merlin asked innocently, taking a large gulp of water, trying to will away the feeling of Gaius' suspecting glance.

"I mean that the homework you are doing doesn't seem to be yours. Well, not only yours, at least."

Merlin shrugged, trying to make it sound like doing someone else's homework. "I'm just doing a math assignment for Arthur," he said calmly. "And an English report. And I'm noting down the point of highest importance from the chapter we're working on in history, so he won't have to read all of it."

"I know that your mother wanted you to make friends, but I don't believe she meant of this kind." Gaius shook his head, sighing. "You seem like quite a moron, Merlin, so I'm afraid I have to ask. You do know when someone is taking advantage of you, do you not?"

"Arthur isn't my friend," Merlin said, laughing at the pure idea of it. There was no one he would hate to be friends with more than Arthur Pendragon. He'd rather sleep with Darren King, the worst bully in Ealdor, and that was saying quite a lot, considering Merlin had been sent to the nurse's office on a daily basis for the past two years due to Darren. "I'm just doing his homework so he won't squash me like a bug for accidentally getting his shirt dirty."

Gaius raised an eyebrow, and Merlin tried to ignore it, focusing on the food on his plate. Salad. He hadn't even noticed what it was before. "This Arthur you are talking about wouldn't happen to be Arthur Pendragon, would he?"

"How did you know?" Merlin asked, choking on his food.

"Everyone knows the Pendragon family," Gaius replied lowly. "Arthur's father, Uther, is one of my clients." It occurred to Merlin that he didn't know what Gaius did for a living, but as long as he provided the youth with food and a place to sleep, he couldn't really be bothered. Knowing Gaius, it was probably something complicated and scientific that Merlin wouldn't understand anyway.

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter now, does it?" he said, trying to sound indifferent. "Arthur made me his personal servant, and I have to follow him around school carrying his books and call him sire." Merlin rolled his eyes. "See, I told you something like this would happen."

They finished their dinner in silence, and Merlin did the dishes before continuing doing Arthur's homework. He finished the math assignment and the notes for history class, but barely got started on the English report before Gaius sent him to bed and told him to finish the rest of the homework another day.

So Merlin sat in his bed, finishing his own homework, until three in the morning, before finally going to sleep. Most of it wasn't so bad, though, considering he had done the exact same tasks for Arthur just a few hours earlier, but he had to keep their assignments different from each other, or they would be accused of cheating.

When he finally lay down to sleep, he was exhausted, and fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

* * *

_My first Merlin fanfic! I just love that series... And I'm a complete sucker for Colin Morgan. And Bradley James (even though he's old). Go Colin and Bradley! Go Merlin! Yay!_

_Anyway, I hope that you all liked this! Of course it's turning into a Arthur/Merlin fic somewhere along the way... I have the scenario all planned out. I just need to figure out how exactly they are going to get to that point. Oh, and please review! Arthur and Merlin love reviewers!_


	2. Yes, sire

Arthur wasn't pleased when he found out that Merlin hadn't finished the English report. Merlin argued that he had sat up until three, doing homework, and that the report wasn't due until Friday. To this, Arthur merely shrugged his shoulders, firmly telling Merlin that he better have it ready by Friday. And sure enough, when Friday came, Merlin had both their reports ready. He handed Arthur the report that was supposedly written by him while they were getting their books from their lockers before English Literature, and they both turned in their papers to the teacher, Lancelot du Lac, who insisted on being called Lance, in the very beginning of class.

Surprisingly, that day, Merlin was allowed to sit with Arthur and his 'friends' during lunch. Of course, that was only so that Arthur could torment him more, but the first four days, Merlin had not been allowed anywhere near Arthur's friends.

"Emrys," the blonde said loudly, smiling his usual, odd smile. "Go and get me a bottle of coke, will you? On you, of course." His friends laughed at this, but Arthur was completely serious, and Merlin sighed as he got up and mumbled: "Yes, sire."

After having paid for the soda, when he was on his way back to Arthur's table, Merlin ran into Gwen.

"You look tired," she commented, studying Merlin's face. "Let me guess: you're doing his homework for him. It seems he has managed to scare you like he scares everyone else."

Merlin shrugged his shoulders. "He _is_ quite intimidating. I would prefer losing sleep over being torn to pieces by him and his pack of wolves." He gestured towards the boys he was sitting with, all of them just as toned and muscled as Arthur himself.

"I suppose." Gwen smiled. "I'll tell Lance that you're doing his homework. I won't let it affect you, though. It's not your fault the kid is an incurable bastard."

"Thanks," Merlin said, smiling genuinely. "By the way, would you mind telling me why you and Lance have the same last name?"

Gwen smiled – only that it was more than a smile; rather than smiling, she was _beaming_ with joy. "He's my husband. We got married last year. So whatever thoughts you might have of seducing me to get a better grade, Mr. Emrys, it won't work."

"Well, there goes my plan," Merlin said, laughing. "Not that it's needed, though, I already get top grades. And you know I'm your favourite student," he added, blinking playfully at her, to which she laughed. Through the corner of his eye, he saw Arthur looking at him with displeasure, and he sighed, smiling cheerlessly at Gwen.

"I have to go; my Master awaits his soda." He smiled, rolling his eyes in the direction of Arthur. "But congratulations on the wedding. Lance is quite a hottie," he said with a dreamy look in his eyes. "Really, I rather think it's him I'd try to seduce to get a higher grade."

"If you do, you'll have to answer to me," Gwen said back, smiling jokingly. "But you should go. I don't want to keep you from reuniting with your Master. I'll see you in class."

Surprisingly, Merlin didn't get a scolding for being distracted by Gwen. Instead, Arthur shot him one of his mischievous glances, and told him there was no use in hitting on a married woman. Merlin shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't about to tell Arthur that he was gay. That was part of the reason why he was so widely hated at school in Ealdor. Everyone there were homophobes, and Merlin didn't for a second believe that things would be different here. So he just sat there, uncomfortable being so close to Arthur, until it was time to go to class.

Gwen's class was always the worst, since he had to sit right _next to_ Arthur, instead of just somewhere near him. Apparently, none of his friends were in this class, because they were the only ones who dared sitting next to the infamous Arthur Pendragon.

Merlin was completely out of it during history. He vaguely heard Gwen asking a question, and noticed that Arthur raised his hand to answer. He heard Gwen saying "Yes, Pendragon?", but couldn't quite catch what the blonde's reply was.

"Interesting," Gwen said, her gaze moving between Arthur and Merlin, and for some reason, the tone in her voice pulled Merlin back to reality. "I believe that is the exact same words Mr. Emrys used to describe the same topic when I talked to him earlier. Or am I mistaken, Mr. Emrys?"

Feeling Arthur's glare on him, Merlin shook his head, swallowing nervously. "I'm afraid you are, miss du Lac," he said quickly. "Mistaken, that is. I believe I put it in slightly different words."

"Really?" the dark-haired teacher said, raising her eyebrows. "That's not how I remember it. What do you remember to have said, then?"

"Um..." Merlin rubbed his neck nervously. "I didn't quite catch the question, miss."

"Perhaps you have been cheating off of Mr. Pendragon's notes, Mr. Emrys?" Gwen asked sternly, but while the class was busy laughing, she shot Merlin and Arthur a knowing glance.

Those gorgeous blue eyes were glaring at Merlin, and Arthur was getting awfully close. "You didn't tell her you were doing my homework for me, did you?" he demanded, and Merlin could feel his breath on his face. "That's not what the two of you talked about when I saw you with her in the cafeteria?"

"Not at all," Merlin asked, perhaps not quite truthfully. "We talked about her husband."

"Really?" Now it was Arthur's time to raise his eyebrows, ignored by the teacher as she continued the lesson. "And just why were you talking about him? You did not by any chance hit on her?"

Merlin snorted. "Pardon me, sire, but I don't believe that's any of your business."

Arthur sighed and returned his attention to the class, Merlin smiling meekly next to him. "You are a hopeless servant, Emrys."

"Why do I have the feeling you're not about to let me go?"

"Because for once, Emrys, you are right," Arthur said without looking at him. "You still have to make up for the shirt you ruined."

"Yes, sire," Merlin murmured, returning his attention to the lesson as well.

During the rest of the school day, he took notes for both himself and Arthur, silently cursing himself for agreeing to this. Why wasn't there anything special about him? Why couldn't he fight this bastard with the powers of gay or something? Moreover, why couldn't his life be a fantasy movie? It seemed like one already, what with being the servant of the unofficial king of the school. Merlin had to chuckle once, starting to compare Arthur and himself to Arthur and Merlin in the old folktales. Arthur pit the description of cocky prince perfectly. Somehow, Merlin could imagine him ruling Camelot. This also forced a short chuckle over his lips, considering they were attending Camelot High, and Arthur ruled the school. Some things were just too perfect to be coincidences.

After school, Merlin took the bus, as he did every day, even though he saw Gaius there in his car, as he did every day. Arthur was on the bus that day, too, as he was every day, and he made Merlin carry his bag and brief him on everything that he had missed in the classes he wasn't paying attention to. English, for starters.

Merlin found himself wondering, as he did every day, why Arthur took the bus. He was obviously from a family with quite a lot of money, considering he could afford to buy clothing that cost three hundred pounds, and had custom-made silk shirts in his wardrobe. He could probably have had a limo picking him up every single day, if he wanted to. So the real question was: why didn't he want to?

It wasn't until much later that Merlin would learn about Arthur's hatred towards his father, and much longer after that before he understood the reason for it. As of now, he was busy being Arthur's slave, and didn't have the time to wonder about anything concerning Arthur, apart from why he took the bus.

When he got back to Gaius' place (which was what he called it just because it was already starting to feel like home, and that scared him) he started doing homework, even though it was Friday. The weekend was a great opportunity to do his and Arthur's homework without worrying too much about when it was due. Just to be sure, he went over the assignments afterwards, comparing Arthur's to his own, making sure they weren't too much alike. Not that it mattered much in English Lit and History; both Gwen and Lance knew it was Merlin who did Arthur's homework.

When the phone called, he barely even acknowledged its existence, caught up in work, the only thing he had ever had to keep his mind of everything that he wanted to forget. It wasn't until Gaius placed a hand on his shoulder and told him that it was his mother, that he jumped up, torn out of the world of homework. Tentatively, he took the phone, holding it to his ear.

"Mother?"

He could hear the relieved smile on her face as she spoke: "Merlin, my boy. How are you? How has your first week of school been? I miss you so much."

"It's been okay, I guess," Merlin said, shrugging his shoulders. "I get good grades. I don't get beat up every other day. I've got a friend of sorts."

"Really?" His mother sounded happy. Not relieved, not suspicious, not hopeful. Just happy. "That's great."

"Yeah," Merlin agreed, smiling into the phone. "Well, she's sort of my teacher, but still. She's just three years older than me, and it seems we have a fellow enemy."

Hunith laughed. "You always did have a way of making enemies. But as long as he's not like that Darren boy, I suppose it's alright."

"Oh, he's nothing like Darren, that's for sure," Merlin said. He found himself grinning at the comparison. He would chose being beaten up by Darren over being ordered around by Arthur any day.

"I'm glad you're doing well, Merlin," Hunith said, her voice quieter, a strange mixture of happiness and sadness lacing it. "I miss you. You're all I have, since your father left. I can't wait until you come home."

"Me neither." Merlin smiled, looking down at the Spanish homework he was doing. Once again, for Arthur. "I'll come to visit," he added when his mother didn't offer to say anything else. "I don't want to wait for six months before seeing you again."

"Oh, I'd be thrilled if you came home for the weekend every now and then," his mother said, her voice sounding graver than her words. "But, in fact, I think it would be better if you just stayed and finished school over there. I don't think Darren and his friends are going to change their attitude towards you."

Merlin's stomach turned. "But mother!" he argued, a feeling of desperate fear building up inside of him. "I wasn't even going to stay throughout all of the school year. I was going to come home after a few months, after things calmed down."

"Merlin..." Hunith's voice had the same tint of hopelessness it had had when Merlin had come home with a black eye for the fifth time in a week one of the last weeks before he was sent away. "You know just as well as I do that Darren and his friends aren't going to mature over a few months. It would be better if you just didn't come back here to go to school at all. I won't worry about as you as much."

Merlin shook his head, wanting to tell her that she _should_ worry, that he was being forced to literally _work for_ a prat that made being beat up by Darren seem tempting. But that would hurt her, and if there was one thing in the world he would never do, it was to hurt his mother. She had done everything for him, ever since his father left without as much as a note to say where he had gone. No matter how much he wanted to go home, he just had to suck it up and deal with it. Arthur was the one card that he couldn't play when his mother was concerned.

"All right," he mumbled into the phone, trying his best to ignore the quiet sobbing from his mother. She wouldn't want him to worry about her, even if they weren't going to see each other for a long time. "It's okay. You're right, I guess. But I'm still coming home for Christmas."

"I'm looking forward to it," Hunith said. Merlin could almost hear the smile on her face. "But I should hang up. I've got house work to do, you know. And I'm sure you have homework, too."

"Oh, I have homework, alright," Merlin said, trying to keep himself from laughing bitterly. "Suddenly, it seems like I have double the amount of it."

"That's high school for you," his mother said, and Merlin couldn't help but smile. His joke would have been funny, had she known what he had to do to stay out of trouble. "Goodbye, Merlin. Take care of yourself, okay?"

"I will, mother," he promised. "Bye."

He sighed as he hung up, and turned his focus back to the assignment. He sat like that, huddled over the books, for about an hour before it was dinner, and he had to clear his books off the table.

They ate in silence, and then Merlin picked up the books again, continuing his work. He had finally finished all of Arthur's assignments, and had been able to start on his own.

He continued working until half past eleven, when he had nearly finished all of his assignments, and decided to go to bed.

"You're wearing yourself out," Gaius commented as he shuffled across the floor, heading for his small room. "Maybe you should confront Arthur about it. If you keep on like this, you won't live through the rest of the semester, let alone the rest of the year."

Merlin snorted. "Right. And get my ass beaten up by Arthur every day instead? My mother would have a heart attack."

"She would have a heart attack if she knew what you are doing to yourself right now," Gaius countered.

"And that's why she's not going to find out," Merlin said calmly. "If I end up in the hospital, there's not a big chance that it will go unnoticed."

Gaius sighed loudly. "Fine. Go on, then, get some sleep. You look like you need it."

Merlin just nodded, and went on up to his room, where he curled up under the sheets and failed in keeping himself from crying. He might pretend to be strong, but he was really the opposite. Over the years, he might have become talented at putting on a brave and cheerful mask, even when he wanted to cry. And on top of it all, he was homesick. He missed his mother and he missed Will, and it was all just too much.

He knew he was acting like a teenage girl, but he was _gay_ goddammit, his brain did have certain similarities with the female brain. He had the _right_ to act like a depressed girl. And he had the right to be confused about Arthur, who sometimes talked to him as if they were old friends, only to scare the hell out of him seconds later. He had the right to be scared, he had the right to be angry, and he had the fucking _right _ to cry.

But despite his reasoning, he kept his sobbing quiet, not wanting Gaius to hear him. He eventually ran out of tears, but even though people said it was better to just let everything out, he didn't feel the slightest bit better. He felt empty, angry, and he had a hell of a headache. He managed to fall asleep in the end, though, silently cursing Arthur. Somehow, he felt an enormous amount of satisfaction at the idea that Arthur could not control his thoughts, and that he could think the word 'prat' as many times as he wanted to without being as much as glared at.

* * *

_Okay, so Merlin _is_ kind of whiney, but hey, can you blame him? He's been bullied since, well, forever! Besides, he's gay, so he's allowed to be a little girly. But don't worry, he'll find someone to pick up the pieces and put him back together :)_

_Please review, everyone!  
_


	3. Freya

A month passed. To his own surprise, Merlin found that he didn't mind so much being ordered around by Arthur. It didn't really kill him. Sure, he had lost a serious amount of sleep over the past month, but the upside of having to do Arthur's homework was that he learned everything better, and the upside to having to follow him around and do whatever he was told, was that he didn't have to sit by himself in a classroom during the breaks. Of course, it still sucked, and Arthur was still a bastard, but it wouldn't do him any good to focus on the negative things.

So he kept following Arthur around at school, kept doing his homework, kept shutting up, rolling his eyes, and thinking 'prat' as hard as he could, while Arthur kept treating him like dirt.

What seemed strange to Merlin, was that Arthur seemed to be spending less and less time with his friends (Merlin had never really bothered to learn their names). He still sat with them at lunch, but they didn't talk and laugh as loudly in class anymore, and they didn't mock Merlin anymore, either. The only one who did that was Arthur, and when he did, his friends laughed, but quieter than they had done the first time, at his first day of school. In some way, even though they were all still bastards, and Merlin couldn't make himself understand how he could stand being in the same school as any of them, they seemed nicer.

On this particular November day, Merlin was late for school for the first time for as long as he could remember. He had stayed up longer than usual in order to finish the homework he and Arthur had for the next day, and had overslept. Since he was such a goody two-shoes that never was late and ever did anything wrong, Gaius hadn't even bothered to check if he was awake, and had gone straight to work. He didn't even insist on driving Merlin to school anymore.

Merlin had missed the bus, and had ended up walking to school. Though walking was an understatement; he was _running_.

As he stumbled along the hallway, his breathing heavy, he ran into a girl and nearly dropped his bag. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, bending down to help her pick up the books she had dropped. "Why aren't you in class?"

The girl smiled meekly as she replied: "The teacher let me leave earlier. We were just going to go through a test we've had, and I sort of aced it." She tucked a lock of black hair behind her ear. "What about you?"

"Missed the bus," Merlin said with a half-smile on his lips, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm Merlin, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Merlin," the girl said softly. "I'm Freya." She finished gathering her books, and the two of them stood back up, an awkward silence filling the air between them. "You should get to class, Merlin. I'll see you around sometime."

"Yeah, sure." Merlin smiled as he turned around and Freya waved at him.

He received a glare from Arthur when he showed up in Spanish class five minutes later. It wasn't until then that he realized he still had Arthur's Spanish books; he'd been up until five finishing their homework for Spanish. Surely, the teacher wasn't too happy about Arthur 'forgetting' his books.

"You're late, Mr. Emrys," the teacher commented dryly as Merlin entered.

He nodded shortly, casting a hesitating glance in Arthur's direction. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, trying to ignore the fact that the entire class was staring at him. "I was up pretty late to finish some homework, and I overslept and missed the bus. It won't happen again."

The teacher just nodded, and didn't discuss it further. Not until the end of the class, when he pulled Merlin aside and mumbled something about letting him off this one time, since he was such an exceptional student.

Not everyone was as understanding as the teacher, though. More precisely, _Arthur Pendragon_ was not as understanding as the teacher.

"You better not be late for class ever again," the blonde growled quietly when Merlin emerged from the classroom. The blonde seemed to have picked up on his former habit of not looking at him. "You are _hopeless_, Emrys."

Merlin frowned. "I only overslept because I was up until five in the morning doing _your_ homework," he said firmly, regretting it once the words left his lips. He expected Arthur to hit him – just hit him; not beat him up or try to kill him, as it seemed Darren had tried to do – like he usually did when Merlin did something "wrong". But the blow never came. Instead, Arthur, glared into the air, and started walking down the hallway, gesturing for Merlin to follow him.

_All this for a shirt_. Merlin shook his head in disbelief. But he was going to keep doing as he was told. If he didn't, who knew what Arthur would do to him? Merlin was sure that this guy was ten times stronger than Darren (he cursed himself for not being able to get that boy out of his head), and he wasn't about to be the one who found out exactly how long he could bend the rules of Arthur Pendragon before the blonde made sure he'd regret it for the rest of his miserable life. Gwen had said he liked to scare people. He certainly managed to scare the hell out of Merlin.

He ran into Freya in the cafeteria at lunch, though not as literally this time. They stood and talked for the entire lunch break, and Merlin found that he was quite comfortable in the presence of this girl. While they were talking, he completely forgot that he was probably supposed to do something for Arthur, and he could feel the blonde glare at him through the corner of his eye, but for once, he allowed himself to ignore it.

They made plans to go to the library and study for an upcoming test after school. Apparently, he and Freya had History together, even though he had never seen her there before. It wasn't really a surprise, though. She was quite an invisible type of person. In fact, Merlin wouldn't be surprised if Arthur thought he was standing there talking to himself. Freya was a remarkable person, but she was just... invisible.

"I'll see you after school, then," she called after him as he walked towards Arthur to go to class with him. Merlin smiled back, waving at her.

"After school," he repeated, already looking forward to it. It wasn't every day he made a new friend.

"It seems you have picked up a habit of chatting up girls when you should be working for me," Arthur said sternly as the two of them made their way down the hallway. "I just hope your new sweetheart isn't a teacher. Or married."

Merlin was unable to hold back a short laugh. "Sire, Freya and I are just friends. Even if I had the time to have a 'sweetheart', as you so neatly put it, she's not my type." He refrained from using the word 'girlfriend', as if felt somewhat wrong to take in his mouth, since he was gay and all.

"Right." Arthur didn't exactly leave any room for question, so Merlin just went with it. If Arthur wanted to believe that he was dating Freya, then he could believe it. Merlin didn't see how it could matter.

The rest of the day was as boring and torturous as ever, filled with taking notes and listening to Arthur's stupid comments about everything and anything. They were mostly about Merlin, though, and how useless he was. Most of the time, he just shook his head and ignored it.

After school, he walked out side by side with Arthur, when he saw Freya standing in the shade under one of the trees that stood around the school. Mumbling a goodbye to the blonde boy, he started to make his way over to the brunette, a smile on his face, when a strong had gripped his shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?" Arthur's voice said behind him, and Merlin sighed.

"I'm going to the library with Freya," he said softly as he turned around. "We're going to study for the History test."

That familiar odd smile found its way to Arthur's lips, and Merlin groaned at the words he knew were about to come: "And why would you do that when you could be taking notes for me?"

"I'll take notes for you while I'm studying with her," Merlin argued. "Now, if you would be so kind as to let go of my shoulder, I'm going." He didn't really know where this was coming from all of a sudden; why he suddenly had the courage to speak up, but he didn't really care.

"No, you're not," Arthur said with a scary smile on his face. "You're coming with me to boxing practice. Now, run over to your girlfriend and tell her that you can't make it to your date today."

Merlin raised an eyebrow. Arthur was a boxer? "You never wanted me to come with you before. Why now?"

"Because now, Emrys, I need someone to carry my things for me."

Merlin sighed, and glaring at Arthur, he walked over to Freya, telling her that he couldn't make it to the library.

"I get it," she said softly as he finished speaking. "I mean, if you want to be friends with Arthur Pendragon, you obviously can't be seen with a girl like me."

Merlin shook his head, taking her hand in his own in an attempt to comfort her. "It's not like that," he promised. "There is nothing in the world I would hate more than to be friends with Arthur Pendragon. The guy is rotten to the core. It's just complicated."

"Right."

"Look," he continued, squeezing Freya's hand gently, "I can't tell you right now, but come by my place later, and I'll explain it all to you. I just... I have to go."

"Emrys!" Arthur's voice called after him, and Merlin sighed.

"You'll come, right? I promise, this thing with Arthur... It's not what it seems."

Freya nodded slowly, a small smile finding its way to her lips. "Alright, I'll come. When?"

"I don't know when I'll be back," Merlin admitted as he started walking backwards towards Arthur. "Just tell my uncle you're a friend of me, and he'll let you stay and wait for me. I won't be too late." He barely had the chance to see another nod from Freya before he turned around and walked back to where Arthur still stood. With a smirk on his face, the blonde led the way aboard a bus, and soon, Merlin found himself in a gym in the middle of town, in the opposite direction from school of where he and Gaius lived.

It wasn't too bad, though. He only had to look after Arthur's things, change the towel when the one he had got drenched in sweat, and fill up the bottle of water every once in a while, and the rest of the time, he sat in a corner and did Arthur's homework. He still could not bring himself to believe why he was doing this, even when he reminded himself that Arthur could turn out to be Darren's evil twin if he refused.

Again, he was annoyed at the amount of times the name Darren popped up in his mind. Okay, so he had had a crush on him once. Okay, so Darren was hot. Okay, so it was because of his childhood crush on Darren that Merlin had realized he was gay. But he was over that, wasn't he?

It also annoyed him that he kept comparing Arthur to Darren. As if they were alike in some way, even though Merlin desperately tried to tell himself that they were not. Not at all. They were both fairly good-looking, they were both all muscles, they were both blonde, and they were both pure evil, but apart from that... Nothing about them was the same. No matter how many things they had in common, it was impossible to deny that they were _not_, in any way, the same.

He returned home around six, and was greeted by dinner and a hug from Freya, who had come there a couple of minutes earlier, according to Gaius.

"I'm sorry I was late," Merlin said as the three of them sat by the table and ate. "Arthur needed me to come to boxing practice with him."

"What for?" Gaius questioned, sounding amused. "Did he need someone to use as a punching bag?"

Merlin frowned. "Very funny, Gaius," he mumbled, chewing on a piece of chicken. "He needed me to fill his bottle of water and hand him a towel when he got sweaty."

"Sounds about the same to me." Gaius raised an eyebrow, and Merlin couldn't help but chuckle.

"Does anyone want to tell me what the two of you are talking about?" Freya asked, making Merlin turn his head towards her. "Why would you be doing anything of that sort for Arthur Pendragon?"

Merlin rubbed his neck, like he tended to do when he got nervous. "I'm kind of his servant," he mumbled, the smile fading from his face.

"Why?"

"I ruined his shirt and couldn't afford to pay three hundred pounds to replace it." Once again, he was unable to hold back a chuckle, and as he glanced at Freya, he saw a smile on her face, too. "I don't have much time left for anything else once I've finished doing everything he wants me to do."

"Sleep is one of those things," Gaius commented dryly, rolling his eyes theatrically. Turning to Freya, he continued: "He sleeps four hours every night on average."

"That's not true!" Merlin argued. "I get a whole six hours on weekends."

Freya laughed at this, even though she looked a little scared as well, and her laughter was infective, to say the least. Soon, the three of them were laughing, and they spent the whole night talking and laughing. Until it was getting late and Freya had to go home, Merlin even forgot that he had homework he needed to do. For Arthur.

"If I'm not down here tomorrow morning before you leave, please come up and wake me," he informed Gaius before he went up to his bedroom. "Arthur is going to have my head if I'm late for class again. With his books."

"Understood," Gaius nodded. "Just don't stay up all night. You need your four hours of sleep."

"I won't." Merlin smiled at his uncle. "Good night, Uncle Gaius." With that, he walked up the stairs to his room, heading for another sleepless night filled with homework.

* * *

_Yay, another update! I'm so proud of myself. _

_Right. I don't have much to say apart from that. Oh, and this: Please review! Because Merlin and Arthur still love reviewers, even though Merlin is busy not noticing that Freya is in love with him._

_I'll see you guys in the next chapter!  
_


	4. Skipping school

The next day at lunch, Merlin was surprised to find that Arthur did not walk in direction of the cafeteria once they were let out of class. Instead, he made his way to the front doors, walking out into the chilly November air. Hesitating slightly, Merlin followed him, wondering where they were going.

As Arthur started wandering down the street, away from the school, Merlin ran up next to him, feeling a bit anxious. "What are you doing, sire?" he asked quietly, eyeing the taller male as he strode down the street, keeping his gaze straight ahead of him.

"First of all, it's not me, it's _us_. And second...What does it look like we're doing?" Arthur retorted, still refusing to look at Merlin. "We're skipping school."

"But what about our attendances?" Merlin asked, feeling the slightest bit desperate. He had never been absent from school, even if it had always been a nightmare. "This is going to affect our diplomas."

Arthur smiled that odd smile of his again; the one that Merlin could never quite understand what meant. "Not mine, it won't." He threw a chaste glance at Merlin through the corner of his eye, and for a short second, Merlin thought he saw something that might resemble some sort of emotion flickering over his face. "Oh, come on," he added, obviously having seen the anxious expression on Merlin's face. "It's not like the teachers would do anything that could possibly harm their precious Merlin Emrys." He uttered Merlin's name with obvious displeasure, almost as if he felt dirty just by saying it.

Merlin didn't say anything after that. He just followed Arthur as he walked down the street, wondering where they were going. It didn't seem like Arthur to skip school. If he didn't care about it, then he wouldn't have needed Merlin to do his homework when he didn't want to do it himself. There must be a reason why the blonde suddenly was so eager to get away from school. But no matter how hard he thought about it, Merlin couldn't figure out what it was.

They ended up in the gym where Arthur usually trained. No one was there, and it was locked, obviously not open at this time of the day, when everyone had school and work, but Arthur pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Once they were inside, Merlin settled down in a corner with his books, not sure what else to do, and was about to start doing Arthur's homework for History when he was interrupted by the blonde.

"Don't," he said tonelessly, glancing at Merlin with his usual face, that was somehow both expressionless and cocky at the same time. "We have a test coming up, right? I'll do it myself. Who knows, maybe I'll actually learn something from it."

Merlin was shocked, to say the very least. He didn't understand what had gotten into Arthur all of a sudden. He had never been anything close to nice – hell, he had just forced Merlin to skip school – and now he suddenly wanted to do his homework himself, instead of just reading through the notes Merlin scribbled down for him. Shaking his head, Merlin told himself that Arthur was going to learn more from doing it himself, and that that was the sole reason for this strange occurrence, not an awkward try at being friendly.

"Do you know how to box, Emrys?" Arthur asked, once again capturing Merlin's full attention.

"No, sire," Merlin replied truthfully, a little bit scared by what he assumed was about to happen.

Arthur smiled again, if that odd stretch of his lips could be called a smile. "Well, you're going to learn it now. Get up."

Sighing, Merlin stood up and walked over to the blonde boy, putting on the wristbands he was handed.

"I hope you don't mind," Arthur said slowly as he stepped into the boxing ring, gesturing for Merlin to follow him. "Gloves are for sissies."

Merlin just nodded, bracing himself for what was about to come, and had the air knocked out of him as the first hit came.

He had no idea how long he had been stumbling around there, trying his best to defend himself, Arthur laughing at the sight of him, when said blonde hit him again and he stumbled back against the rubber strings (or whatever the things around the ring were made from), and Arthur followed. In the blink of an eye, the blonde stood inches from him, with a look in his dark blue eyes that was far deeper than what Merlin thought Arthur Pendragon was capable of. Then, as soon as it had happened, it was over, and Merlin wondered if he had just imagined it all.

"Take a break," Arthur mumbled, walking way from a very beat up and confused Merlin.

Even though he was hurting all over, Merlin couldn't help but smile to himself when Arthur poured water from his bottle over his head before drying his face with a towel. Then, he focused hard on telling himself that he did not find Arthur attractive, even in the slightest. Sure, he was good-looking, but he was such an asshole. That said, it wouldn't really kill him to look at the blonde.

Soon, as Merlin literally lay on the floor, trying to regain his strength, he heard a firm voice yelling "Arthur!" before the door opened. Merlin sat up to see a brunette rushing in, looking pretty angry.

"Morgana," the blonde said tonelessly, as if it did not bother him at all that this girl was just rushing in and interrupting his training. Had Merlin done that, he would be dead within the minute.

"Your father said he was going to come to your school to speak with you during lunch," the girl, who was apparently called Morgana, said angrily. She was a little bit taller than Arthur was, with pale skin that Merlin would have thought was that of a porcelain doll, had he not known better, dark eyes that he could not quite see the colour of, and long, dark brown hair that hung down over her shoulders in perfect waves.

"So you see the reason why I'm not there," Arthur replied, sounding bored. "Now, would you be so kind as to leave? I'm sort of in the middle of something."

Morgana raised her eyebrows, and for the first time, she looked around the room. Her eyes landed on Merlin. "Who is your friend?"

Merlin looked at Arthur, who threw a chaste glance at him over his shoulder before returning his gaze to Morgana. "Merlin is helping me study for a History test."

"Really?" Morgana looked amused. "And if he is helping you study, why is he skipping school with you? I don't suppose that is a part of his study technique."

Merlin got to his feet, his right hand instinctively reaching up to his neck. "That's my fault, actually," he said, swallowing nervously. He had always been a terrible liar. "I've always wanted to try boxing, and I talked Arthur into doing this for me in return for helping him in History."

"Right." The brunette smiled as she walked up to Merlin. "And why did you want to do that during school hours?"

Merlin opened his mouth and closed it again, not sure what to say.

"I wanted to get out of school anyway, didn't I?" Arthur interrupted, placing a hand on Morgana's shoulder. "Why not do him this favour at the same time? It's not like it's going to affect him, he gets top grades in all subjects already."

"The boy looks like he's about to pass out, Arthur. It might not be because of you beating him up, which is what it looks like you've done, but whatever you are doing to him, stop it."

"Wouldn't Guinevere tell you if I was hurting her favourite student?"

Morgana raised her eyebrows again. "Not if she didn't know about it."

"I think she'd know about it," Arthur said calmly, glancing shortly at Merlin again. "After all, she and Merlin seem to have become the best of friends.

Morgana sighed loudly, holding a hand to her forehead. "You can't avoid speaking to your father forever, Arthur."

"And I don't intend to. Only until he puts this matter to rest."

After Morgana left, Arthur resumed his training, and Merlin settled down on the floor, watching him. He didn't bother to question what had happened, so instead he just sat there, watching the blonde release his anger on a punching bag.

He was curious, though, as to who this Morgana was, and why Arthur was so desperate to avoid his father. Surely Arthur was the kind of guy that got everything he wanted, and a father who gave him everything and anything couldn't be that bad. At least Arthur was lucky enough to _have_ a father. Merlin's own father had left long before he was even born. His mother had always said that he'd come back someday, and they'd be a normal, happy family. But seventeen years had passed, and the man that was supposed to be one of Merlin's closest friends was still nowhere to be found.

"Morgana is my sister," Arthur said dully as they left the gym later that day.

Merlin raised his eyebrows slightly. "And you are telling me this because...?"

"I figured you'd be curious." Arthur looked bored. They were walking towards the bus stop, Arthur still without looking at Merlin, and Merlin had settled with the fact that that was all Arthur was going to say, until he unexpectedly spoke up again: "My father is a busy man, so he doesn't have the time to see me often. He'd cleared a spot at lunch today because he wanted to discuss a rather uncomfortable subject, about which I have no wish to speak with him. So I skipped."

"I still don't understand why you are telling me this, sire."

Arthur looked at him, his face once again wearing that strange expression that made him look both bored and cocky. "You seemed curious. I figured it was better to tell you than have you nagging me to death about it."

"I'm not," Merlin said quickly. "Curious, I mean. Whatever is going on in your private life, it's none of my business."

"It seems we agree on something, then."

The bus ride back home was silent. Arthur only spoke once, when he told Merlin to give him his History books, and Merlin replied by nodding and handing them to him.

When he got off the bus, he briefly wondered where Arthur lived, but didn't bother thinking about it for too long. He didn't have to do Arthur's homework for History tonight. He should be celebrating. He should listen to music and see a movie, go to bed early and be fully rested for school the next day.

But he didn't. He ended up sitting by the kitchen table, doing his and Arthur's homework. And even though it didn't take as much time as usual, he had no time for anything else than school work.

He did get to go to bed earlier, though. He went up to his room at twelve, having finished all the homework he'd had, and was sound asleep half an hour later.

* * *

_Sorry about the short chapter! I just didn't really have anything more to write here without moving the story foreards too fast, and... Well, you don't really want to read my rambling, do you? Anyway, I hope you guys like it more than I do, and that it's not as lame as I find it._

_I should also give you a heads up about a fairly long wait for the next chapter. I'll be writing a Christmas special, which means another jump in the timeline (sorry about that), but I really have it all planned out, and I want to put my best effort into it! Also, with the final days of school, I need to focus on the last few assignments I have to hand in before Christmas. And I have a gig this weekend, so I'll be spending many hours alone with my guitar._

_Anyway, please review. You know how much Arthur and Merlin love their reviewers.  
_


	5. Merry Christmas

Christmas was getting close awfully fast. Arthur was still an intolerable bastard, though he did occasionally do a small part of his own homework. Merlin was still sleep deprived, but for the time being, he didn't care so much. Christmas was coming. He'd be back in Ealdor soon. He'd see Will and his mother again.

Merlin found himself being haunted by what had happened that day when they skipped school. Gaius had freaked out when Merlin came home with a bruise, but it wasn't all that bad. Not at all like what he was used to. If Morgana thought he looked beat up after training with Arthur, she should have seen him after a day in school in Ealdor.

Merlin didn't really care about the bruise, though. He was being tormented by the memory of that short moment when Arthur had looked into his eyes, looking so much different from his usual arrogant self, and Merlin had felt... _something_. He didn't know what it was, but at that moment, something inside of him had just clicked, and it made him feel odd, in a way that he couldn't have explained in words even if he wanted to. But he didn't want to, because he wanted to forget about it. He didn't want to think about anything that had any kind of connection with Arthur while it was so close to Christmas, and he was going home soon, if only for a short while.

It was the last day of school before the Holidays when Merlin stood in the hallway and talked with Freya before class. They were mostly talking about school, and their lives in general. A few times, Arthur became the topic of conversation, and every time that happened, the two of them became quiet, until one of them changed the subject, and they pretended the name Arthur Pendragon had never been mentioned.

"Do you care about him?" Freya asked one time, refusing to let go of the topic after Merlin had, once again, foolishly begun talking about Arthur.

"Of course I don't," he replied, maybe a little too quickly. "He's ordering me around, forcing me to do his homework, and making up all kinds of other things that I have to do whenever I actually have plans of my own. He wants to see me break."

Freya smiled weakly. They both knew it was true. A number of times, the two of them had agreed to meet up after school, to study or just to hang out. And every time, with no exception, Arthur had dragged Merlin to the gym to train, or to the library to study, or into town to help him find a new shirt.

"But you keep doing it," she said after a moment of silence. "If you really didn't care what he thought about you, you would just ignore him and leave his work unfinished."

Merlin frowned. "Right," he said slowly. "And you honestly believe that he would _not_ turn me into his personal punching bag if I refused to do as he told me?"

"Maybe not." Freya was still smiling, and Merlin could not deny that she was indeed a beautiful girl, no matter how ordinary. "I suppose there isn't much you can do about it, then."

"There's not," Merlin agreed. "I mean, Arthur literally _rules_ the school. Even the teachers do as he says."

Freya nodded, a tint of sadness showing in her dark eyes. "With his father being on the school board, that's not a big surprise. And being filthy rich is also a perk. Everyone here works for Uther Pendragon. And God forbid that anyone ever says a bad word about his son." She laughed quietly, a beautiful, light laughter that should have had every guy in the school crazy about her, in Merlin's opinion. Any guy that couldn't see the beauty in this girl was either blind or gay.

"His father is on the school board?" This was the first Merlin had heard about this subject. "Well, I guess that makes sense. Let me guess: he's bribing the rest of the board to do exactly as he says?"

"That sounds just about right. Except it's not just school. Uther practically owns the entire town." Freya smiled. "The last teacher that gave Arthur detention was fired a week later. And God knows it was beyond difficult for the poor woman to find a new job." She paused for a short while, a slight frown forming on her face. "That boy gets everything and anything he could ever want, and then some."

Merlin laughed, a slightly bitter tone in his voice. "Why am I not surprised?" he mumbled, sighing. "I have to get to class, though. I'll see you after Christmas."

"Yeah. Have fun visiting your mum," Freya smiled back at him, leaning up on her toes to kiss his cheek before she disappeared down the hallway. "Merry Christmas, Merlin," she called over her shoulder before disappearing into a classroom. Merlin, completely dumbstruck, lifted his hand to his cheek, as if feeling that his skin was still there would somehow make him understand what had just happened.

"I see you've managed to keep your girlfriend for a whole month, Emrys," Arthur's voice said behind him, and Merlin turned around with a sigh.

"Sire," he said, bowing sarcastically.

"So you like that girl?"

"Freya?" Merlin shrugged his shoulders. "I guess. She's nice, pretty... she has a beautiful laughter," he said, smiling. If Arthur was going to be nosy anyway, he might as well get something out of it, though Merlin couldn't possibly see why Arthur would be interested in knowing about him and Freya. He had tried to tell the blonde that they were just friends, but for some reason, Arthur didn't believe that. What harm could a little white lie do? Merlin was sure Freya would find it hilarious, as well.

"Hn," Arthur grumbled. "You look good together. You're both boring and useless. Come on, Emrys, get your ass to Spanish class."

Spanish was their last class that day. It went agonizingly slow, even for Merlin, who usually enjoyed school. All he could think about was that he was going home later that very same day. After a few long months, he was going to see his mother and his best friend again.

Finally, the bell rang, and they were dismissed. Merlin couldn't keep himself from grinning widely while he walked to his locker and dumped his books in it.

"You seem happy," Arthur commented dryly, leaning back against his own locker. "Holiday plans with your girlfriend?"

Merlin shook his head. "No, sire," he replied shortly. As he made no sign to say anything more, Arthur sighed.

"Alright. Give me my books, at least. Who knows, maybe I'll actually learn something if I read."

"It's Christmas," Merlin pointed out. "We don't have homework."

Arthur shrugged. "Still. Give me my History books. And English Lit. Those are my worst subjects."

Merlin rolled his eyes as he got the books out of his locker. Arthur wouldn't know what his worst subject was if it punched him in the face. After all, Merlin was the one doing all his assignments. But he did as he was told, closed his locker, said goodbye to Arthur, and was on his way home.

Just a few hours later, he was on a bus, heading for his hometown. He was really excited to see Will again, and he couldn't deny that he missed his mother. He worried about her now that she was on her own. He knew she missed his father, even though she shouldn't. He had just walked out on her when she was pregnant, and hadn't returned, even after all these years. He had no right being missed.

His mother and Will met him when he finally arrived at the bus station in Ealdor. Merlin hugged them both, and he and Will grinned widely at each other. His mother started talking about how much she had missed him, and how lonely she was without him there, but Merlin couldn't bring himself to pay full attention to what she was saying. He was so happy about being back in Ealdor, he just couldn't focus on anything other than how good it felt to be home. For once, he felt completely at ease.

He spent the rest of the day at Will's place. They played video games, listened to music, and just hung out, talking about school and 'old times', as they called it, even though it had only been a couple of months since Merlin moved away.

"So, how's life with your uncle?" Will asked casually, throwing a piece of popcorn into the air and catching it with his mouth. "I hope there's not a Darren clone at your new school, or I might have to kidnap you and hide you in my closet."

"I'm finally out of that closet, I'm not going back in," Merlin joked.

"So people in Camelot know you're gay?"

Merlin bit his lip. "I guess not. It's not like I've been hiding it, though, it's more that mentioning it has sort of slipped my mind."

"Uh huh." Will grinned. "That's back in the closet for you, my friend." They both laughed for a while, before Will's face regained its serious expression. "But I'm serious, Merlin. No Darren clone?"

"No Darren clone," Merlin confirmed. _Arthur is much worse_, he added in his mind. "You should be able to see that yourself. No broken nose. No black eyes."

Will smiled meekly. "You did a really good job at hiding what Darren did to you for all those years," he reminded Merlin. "I wouldn't be surprised if you could completely cover up a bruise with some make-up and two minutes of your time."

Merlin rolled his eyes, smiling at his best friend. "The point is, there is no Darren clone. I'm doing fine, Will. Really."

His friend seemed reluctant to believe it, but he finally sighed and nodded, telling Merlin that he trusted him. Merlin smiled at this, although he knew that Will didn't believe him. The two of them had known each other since they were children, and they knew each other a little too well. But they also trusted each other with their lives. Will trusted Merlin to have control of his situation, like Merlin trusted Will to do anything to protect him.

The next day, they went for a walk in town. Merlin was eager to see the life in Ealdor, as if it might have changed during the months he had been away. Not that it should have. And it hadn't. Ealdor was a small town where everyone knew everyone, and nothing could be expected to change. But still, he eagerly watched the people in the streets, taking it all in, as if he might never get to see this again. People hurrying back and forth, or just standing and talking to someone, wrapped up in thick jackets, their breaths coming out in small white puffs.

He'd missed this. He'd missed the way nothing changed, the way the people were all the same, the way they took this peaceful life for granted. Camelot was nothing like this. There, everything was big and heated, nothing was taken for granted, and most people would do anything to keep what they had. Mostly because of Uther Pendragon. And because of Arthur.

"You know, I've really missed this place," he said to Will, stopping for a moment to look around him, taking in everything, hoping the memory would last forever. "I wish I could wrap up the atmosphere and take it back..." He stopped himself in mid-sentence. He had been about to say back _home_. As if that place – Gaius' house, the school, the gym downtown, the library, the people – had become his home now. But it couldn't be. He felt so much at ease in Ealdor, in a way that he never would anywhere else. This was where he belonged, and he silently cursed himself for agreeing to leave. He should never have done that. If he hadn't left in the first place, by-passers would be greeting him like they greeted Will. He would get nods and waves and helloes back when he greeted someone. He wouldn't be feeling like an outsider in his own hometown.

Will opened his mouth, about to reply, but he ended up just gaping and staring at something behind Merlin.

"Merlin," a familiar voice said from behind him. "You're back."

"Only for the Holidays," Merlin replied dully as he turned around to look at the blonde boy that stood there, in the middle of a crowded street, smiling as if they had been best friends all their lives. "Nice to see you again, Darren."

"Likewise." Darren stepped closer, grabbing Merlin's wrist, his friendly smile turning into a mocking one. "How's life?" he asked quietly. "Did you find someone to replace me yet?"

Merlin huffed. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You know you like being controlled," the blonde said, his dark brown eyes staring intently into Merlin's. "You know you would gladly take anything I did to you. That's why you went out of your way to keep it a secret. So I could keep controlling you. So you would still be mine."

Merlin stepped back, pulling his wrist out of Darren's grip. "You're sick, do you know that? You seriously need some help."

Glaring, Darren said: "Then so do you."

"Fuck off," Merlin snapped at him, returning the glare. Darren sneered, but slowly, hesitantly, he turned around and walked away, Merlin staring after him as he left.

Once the blonde disappeared among the other people, Merlin turned towards Will, who was looking slightly scared. "Did you just tell Darren King to fuck off?" he asked quietly, staring at Merlin in disbelief.

"I guess so." Merlin just shrugged his shoulders. "Why?"

"You've changed," Will said, shaking his head. "I was wondering... When I met you yesterday, something just seemed off. Like you didn't belong here anymore. I thought maybe I had changed, or this place, but it's you. You're different."

It was Merlin's turn to shake his head. "No. No, I'm not. I'm still the same person I've always been."

"You're not!" Will argued. "You told Darren King, the person who has been bullying you since we were kids, to fuck off, even though you have never had the courage to say anything to him – or to anyone else, for that sake – before. You've changed, Merlin."

"I haven't."

"Yes, you have. You're finally standing up for yourself."

Merlin raised an eyebrow, fighting back the urge to laugh bitterly. "No, I'm not."

Will just sighed and shook his head, and they kept walking, Merlin taking in every sight, every smell, every sound. It was freezing, but that had never kept him from being outside before, and he didn't complain. He enjoyed the way his breath formed small clouds of white in front of him, how the cold air stung his skin. He liked the sound of the snow creaking under his shoes. He loved the winter.

"There is a Darren clone, isn't there?" Will asked after a while.

"Of course not," Merlin lied quickly. But he could see the pain in Will's eyes as he said those words, and he knew he couldn't lie to him. Not to his best friend. Sighing, he mumbled: "He's not that bad, Will."

"That's what you used to say about Darren, too," Will pointed out.

"Believe me, Arthur is nothing like Darren. He's not even beating me. He has hit me a few times, but that doesn't really count. I only got a bruise one time, and that was barely visible. It didn't even hurt, Will."

Will shook his head. "You know I'm worried about you, Merlin."

"But there's no need to be," Merlin argued. "I know I was wrong to say that the Darren thing was nothing, but really, Arthur is nothing like him. He's just a bully that likes to make fun of my name. It's nothing I can't handle." Merlin knew he was lying, he knew he was going to break if things kept going like this, but he didn't want to be responsible for Will going to prison for murder. He had always been so protective of him, and Merlin had no doubt that his best friend would actually kill Arthur if he ever got the chance. Which was why he could never be given the opportunity. Or a reason.

"Alright," Will finally said. "Fine. If you say you can deal with it, then I believe you. But if I ever find out you've lied to me, I'll be after you as well as this Arthur."

Merlin smiled. "Sounds fair."

The days passed by slowly, the way they always had in Ealdor. But finally, it was Christmas Eve, and Merlin and his mother were at home with Will and his mother, Arianna. The four of them had been celebrating Christmas together for as long as Merlin could remember. Will's own father had died long ago, and since he and Merlin were best friends, their mothers had become very close. Will and Arianna were as much of a family to Merlin as his own mother was.

Hunith and Arianna were cooking while Will and Merlin watched TV and joked around. Merlin really had missed Will, more than he had realized. They had been friends since forever, and no matter how busy he might be, life was just plain boring without Will in it.

The food was ready, and they were just about to sit down and eat when Merlin's cell phone started ringing. He reached for it and was about to turn it off when Hunith shook her head, smiling. "Just answer it, Merlin," she said softly. "I think we can wait a few minutes."

Merlin just nodded shortly, walking out of the dining room (so he wouldn't disturb the others with his phone call) as he lifted the small piece of technology to his ear. "Hello?" he said into the phone.

"Merlin," the very familiar voice of Arthur said in reply. "How is your Christmas so far?"

"It was fine until you called," Merlin mumbled, glaring out into the air. "What is it now?"

"I'm glad you're doing fine," Arthur continued, completely ignoring Merlin's question. "You're probably having a better Holiday than I am, then." There was something about the tone in Arthur's voice that told Merlin that this conversation was not about to take a positive turn. Then again, conversations with Arthur rarely did.

He groaned quietly. "Why do I have a feeling I know where this is going?"

He could practically _hear_ the smirk on Arthur's face when the blonde continued: "How would you like to celebrate Christmas with me?"

"No thanks," Merlin replied bluntly.

"What do you mean, 'no thanks'?" Arthur was starting to sound annoyed.

Merlin rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure he would never have dared to say any of this if Arthur had been right in front of him, but at the moment, the blonde was nothing but a voice in his ear. He couldn't do anything to him. "I'm a three hour drive away, and I'm celebrating Christmas with my mother and my best friend, both of whom I haven't seen for months. I'm not giving up on what has kept me alive the whole time I've been in Camelot just because you need someone to boss around."

There was a long while of silence. Arthur was probably dumbstruck. After all, no one talked to him like that. Merlin swallowed nervously, starting to regret having said anything at all, when Arthur spoke: "Alright then. You should go back to your family. I'll see you soon anyway, when school starts again." The last few words were spoken with a mischievous tone, a complete contrast to the softness of the first ones.

"Yes, sire," Merlin mumbled.

"Goodbye, Emrys." With those two short words, Arthur hung up, and it took a while for Merlin to realize what had really happened. How the hell had Arthur gotten his phone number? And why had he asked Merlin to spend Christmas Eve with him? Nothing about Arthur ever made sense. He had his father, his sister, and his friends, all of whom would probably be more than happy to spend time with him. He shouldn't be so desperate for company that he needed to go to the kid he was bullying.

As he finally put the cell phone back in his pocket, Merlin decided that the blonde was just looking for another opportunity to torture him and drive him away from the people he cared about.

It wasn't until in the middle of the meal, while all four of them were chatting carelessly, that he realized what Arthur has actually _said_ to him. The strangest thing about the phone call wasn't the fact that Arthur had actually called him.

_He called me Merlin_.

Merlin choked on a piece of turkey as the thought hit him. Arthur never called him by his first name. In fact, he seemed to go out of his way to avoid ever saying his name. He always referred to Merlin as 'Emrys', 'moron' or 'idiot'. Never 'Merlin'.

It might not sound to anything special to someone else, but to Merlin, Arthur calling him by his first name was a shock big enough to possibly put him into coma. There was just something about the blonde that had made Merlin think that he would only ever be 'idiot Emrys' to him.

"Are you alright, mate?" Will asked concernedly, placing a hand on Merlin's back as he coughed.

"Yeah, of course," Merlin replied, slightly out of breath. "I just forgot how to swallow."

Hunith shook her head, and all four of them laughed. "Try not to forget it again," she said softly, to which Merlin just nodded.

"By the way, who was that calling you earlier?" Will asked casually, glancing at Merlin. "You never told us. You're not afraid to tell us about your friends, are you?"

Merlin gave him a short, angry look before shrugging. "Arthur," he said, trying to keep his voice as toneless as possible. "He's not a friend of mine, really. I just help him in History and Spanish. He's not the brightest person I have met."

"I'm sure he's doing better now, though, since you're helping him," Arianna said, smiling proudly, as if it were her own son that was a straight A student. "I remember how much Will's grades improved after you started tutoring him."

"Well, if I remember correctly, Will was smarter than Arthur is," Merlin replied, laughing softly. "And he was far more motivated to work."

The rest of the night went by in a blur. Merlin talked and smiled and laughed, pretending to be paying attention to the others, while there was one thought that passed through his mind over and over and over again: What the hell was going on with Arthur?

Arthur always called him by his last name. Arthur hated him. Arthur treated him like a slave. Arthur had looked at him with that deep, piercing look in his eyes. Arthur had called him Merlin.

_What the fuck?_

_

* * *

_

_A/n: Okay, so I know this isn't the best thing I've ever written... Or maybe that's just my opinion because I've read through it too many times. I'm sort of tired of this chapter, actually. Anyway, I hope that it's not as terrible as it seems to me. Also, I'm sorry about the long wait for this one. I promise I won't take this long to get the next chapter up._

_Please review!  
_


	6. Crush

When Merlin got back to school in the beginning of January, Arthur seemed somewhat distant. By now, he was seriously considering that Arthur might have some sort of split personality disorder. Most of the time, he was a complete jerk, but at times – very rarely, but still – he was almost – _almost_ – something that might be considered nice, him being Arthur and the complete jerk that he was. Sometimes, for only minutes at a time, he seemed almost... vulnerable.

"Hey," Arthur said numbly when they met up by their lockers before class.

"Hi," Merlin mumbled in reply, wondering what had gotten into Arthur. "How was your Christmas?" For a short second, Merlin thought he saw something that might resemble sadness in Arthur's eyes. But then the blonde boy shrugged and put that iron mask back on, and the moment was gone.

"Boring as hell," he said as Merlin handed him his Spanish books. "And you? Did you have fun visiting your mum?"

Merlin knew that this was one of Arthur's attempts to be friendly, even though it clearly wasn't working. For some reason, people tend not to be particularly happy about being spoken to in such a demeaning tone.

"I guess," he answered, focusing on closing his locker and not looking at Arthur.

"You live with your dad, then?" Arthur kept on, as they were making their way along the hallway, headed for the classroom. Merlin silently cursed him for not being able to shut up. If Arthur really was as uninterested as he sounded, why did he have to ask? "Did your parents split up?"

"I live with my uncle," he replied numbly. "Ealdor was hell, so my mother thought it would do me good to send me away for a while."

"And did it?"

Merlin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "She seems to think so."

Arthur didn't say anything after that. He just shut up while they walked, and once they reached the classroom, he sat down, staring emptily into the air. Merlin himself sat down in his own seat in the front of the classroom and started to read, as if to distance himself from the world around him. He had seen some of Arthur's 'friends' when they entered the room, but for some reason, Arthur didn't talk to them. He rarely did anymore. It was as if something had happened that had made him distance himself from them. Merlin couldn't imagine that they were the ones to make the first move to end the so-called friendship – Merlin couldn't really imagine a person like Arthur having real friends – since they would undoubtedly get in trouble with Uther Pendragon if they did.

In the end, Merlin found that he was unable to focus on the subject, and ended up just staring emptily into the air, much like Arthur. Once, he even caught himself wondering if the blonde boy was thinking of him while he did that, like Merlin was thinking of Arthur. But he quickly shoved the thought out of his head, reminding himself that Arthur was an idiot, and he probably never thought about anything or anyone, unless it was about how much he disliked them.

For the first time in as long as he could remember, Merlin just couldn't bring himself to pay attention in class. For once, studying wasn't the usual safe escape from his own thoughts. So he ended up just sitting there, staring blankly at the teacher, while his thoughts were about the blonde boy that sat two rows behind him.

At lunch, Merlin found himself sitting at a table with Arthur, both of them staring down at their food.

"Why aren't you sitting with your friends?" he finally asked, taking a small bite of his sandwich.

"Got tired of them," Arthur replied dully, picking absentmindedly at whatever it was he was having for lunch. "What about you? Why aren't you with your girlfriend?"

"I take it you still don't believe me when I say that Freya and I are only friends." Merlin glared down at the table, wishing he had the courage to look up at Arthur. But he just sat there, staring at his lunch. All day, he had been waiting for Arthur to yell at him for the disrespectful way he had spoken to him when they had talked on the phone during Christmas. But he didn't. And as relieved as Merlin was, he was also a little scared. He had begun to realize that he really didn't know Arthur at all. He never knew what to expect from the blonde. And it was slightly disturbing how he could switch between being the arrogant bully and this... this _moping _guy in a matter of minutes.

"You don't look like you're just friends," Arthur finally said, sounding like his usual arrogant self again. "Don't think you can fool me, Emrys."

Merlin chuckled quietly. "Wouldn't dream of it."

After school, Merlin went to the library with Freya to study. He told Arthur he was going alone, and even though the blonde was more than just a little suspicious, he let him go after fifteen minutes of interrogating him.

The two of them ended up talking more than studying, though, and Merlin once again found himself surprised at how comfortable he felt around this girl. He generally wasn't comfortable around _anyone_ at all. He'd been some kind of lone wolf all his life; everyone was afraid of what Darren might do if they as much as looked at him. Clearly, Merlin wasn't allowed to have friends.

"I'd really like to see Ealdor," Freya said, smiling. "It sounds nice. Peaceful."

"It is," Merlin confirmed, smiling as well. "I really miss it. You should come with me the next time I go back. I'm sure my mother won't mind."

"I'd like that." Freya was still smiling, her teeth biting gently into her lower lip, as if she were nervous about something. A hand came up to tuck a lock of dark hair behind her ear.

Then, completely out of the blue, she leaned closer to Merlin, who sat as frozen, not sure what to do, or what was going on. Freya's eyes went half-lidded as her lips tentatively met with Merlin's in a feather light touch that was barely even there. Shocked, Merlin pulled back, his hand resting firmly on Freya's shoulder, as if to keep her from following his movement.

"Freya," he mumbled, keeping his gaze at the history books on the table in front of them. "What are you doing?"

The girl sighed, and Merlin could feel her movements as she sat back in her chair, his hand falling from its place on her shoulder. "You know, Merlin, I care about you a lot, and we've become really close since you came here... You're probably the only one who has ever seen me. People tend to just overlook me, as if I'm not even there." Merlin heard a sound that sounded almost like a nervous swallow, and he allowed himself to look at Freya through the corner of his eye. "People already think we're a couple. I... I was going to ask you about this, but I'm not good at talking, so I thought I'd just try it and see what happened..."

Merlin blinked. "What...?"

"I'm going to make this simple, I guess," the dark-haired girl mumbled, looking at Merlin with a confused smile on her lips. "What exactly _are_ we, Merlin?"

"We're friends," he replied, a slight frown forming on his face. At first, he did not understand the look of hurt in Freya's eyes. Why would she be hurt by a statement like that? But little by little, it started to dawn on him. The way Freya was always so happy around him. The fact that she had kissed him on the cheek before the Holidays. How Arthur just assumed at once that they were together. The kiss just now...

"I'm so sorry," he said numbly, his eyes widening. "I didn't realize... God, I'm such an idiot."

"It's alright," Freya said, gently taking Merlin's hand in her own. "You probably don't even have time to _think_ about having a girlfriend, the way you have to run around after Arthur all the time. I just hoped that maybe we could try..." She quietened when Merlin shook his head.

"No," he said quietly. "I'm sorry, Freya. You're beautiful, you're wonderful, you're _perfect_, you really are, and as much as I would like to tell you that I want to try to fall in love with you, I _can't_." He chuckled sadly. "I'm _gay_, Freya."

After blinking twice, Freya broke into a fit of laughter. She laughed and laughed and laughed, small beads forming in the corners of her eyes and running down her cheeks as she did so. She laughed until it seemed she couldn't breathe, and only after five minutes of gasping for air did she stop laughing. "You're gay," she breathed, another chuckle slipping past her lips. "Boy, do I know how to pick them." She smiled apologetically. "Well, at least now I know why you were always staring at Arthur as if he were a piece of meat."

"I have done no such thing!" Merlin exclaimed, to which Freya rolled his eyes. "I can't stand him. He's the most selfish and arrogant person I have ever met." Merlin wished he could have sounded more convincing.

Freya grinned. "Of course. Of course. I mean, who _likes_ Arthur Pendragon?"

"No one," Merlin replied, rolling his eyes dramatically. "Who would like a guy that has his father terrorize everyone that ever says a bad word about him?" Though Merlin sometimes had a feeling that Arthur didn't want to be treated like that – he really did go out of his way to avoid speaking to his father, after all – he was still a prat. And an arrogant one, at that.

"We'll still be friends, right?" he asked quietly when Freya said nothing more. "Even though I'm..." He trailed off, not sure exactly what to say.

"Of course we will," the dark-haired girl replied. "What part of 'You're the only one who has ever seen me' didn't you understand?" She laughed softly. "You're a great friend, Merlin. I would be a fool to let go of that because of a silly crush."

Merlin smiled. "Thanks."

"There's nothing to thank me for. The fact that you're gay doesn't make you any less human than I am. And I'm pretty sure you're _more_ human than Arthur and his father."

Merlin replied with a quiet chuckle, before he returned his attention to the books. _Darren would disagree with you on that one_, he thought to himself.

They kept working for about an hour, until Freya softly announced that she had to go home. She was careful not to get too close to Merlin; even when she hugged him goodbye, the soft touch of her cheek against his seemed strangely distant, as if she wasn't there at all.

_That must be what a broken heart does to you_.

Of course she'd be hesitant about acting the same way around him that she had always done. All that time, she had _liked_ him, and he had been blissfully oblivious, thinking Arthur was the only one who had thought they were actually together. Of course things would change. But, hopefully, they wouldn't change _much_.

He was standing at the bus stop, thinking he'd wait for his own bus and go home, since there was really nothing to do in town alone at this time of the day. But as he stood there, softly chewing on his lower lip, just waiting, he heard a voice calling out.

"Hey, Merlin!"

As he turned his head, he saw Gwen, together with the dark-haired girl he had seen that day in the gym. Morgana, wasn't that her name? Arthur's sister. Now that Merlin thought about it, the two of them looked nothing alike. Morgana was paler, with skin like porcelain, firm facial features and a somewhat bony – yet slim and elegant – body.

"Hi," he said lamely in reply, walking towards the two girls. Gwen surprised him by pulling him into a hug, and Merlin cleared his throat awkwardly as Morgana held out her had to him.

"I believe we have yet to be properly introduced," she smiled as Merlin took her hand, shaking it. "I'm Morgana Pendragon, Arthur's adoptive sister."

Merlin kept from raising his eyebrows. Adoptive sister? "Merlin Emrys," he said politely.

"Arthur's toy," Morgana said, smiling mischievously.

"Toy?" Merlin's eyes widened. "What on earth are you talking about?"

Morgana's expression was set in stone, her mouth smiling, her eyes staring at him as if he were some sort of rare piece of art. "He's playing some sort of game with you," she explained, examining him with those _strange_ eyes. "I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you. He's just spoilt and socially disabled, and doesn't know how to properly talk to people. So he plays games. But he'll tire of it eventually, like he recently tired of his pack of wolves."

"Right." Merlin looked away, feeling slightly uncomfortable under Morgana's gaze. "You're his adoptive sister?" he asked after a while of awkward silence. "Arthur said you were his sister. He didn't mention that you were adopted."

"I was adopted when I was just a kid," Morgana said, smiling sweetly. "Arthur is like a brother to me. But it seems I am the only one who cares to specify that we are not related by blood."

"Apparently." Merlin smiled, moving his gaze to Gwen, who stood beside Morgana. "Gwen, how are you?"

The teacher returned the smile, nodding slightly. "I'm fine, thanks. And you?"

"Not too bad."

Gwen tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "That's good. And Freya?"

"She's fine, I guess." Merlin frowned slightly. "Why are you asking me about her, though?"

"I thought you were together?"

Merlin chuckled, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. "We're just friends," he assured the two girls. "Even though it might not look that way, we're nothing more than friends."

Gwen and Morgana both nodded, glancing at each other through the corners of their eyes. Merlin wondered if he should say something more, but at that exact moment, a bus pulled into the bus stop, halting before the doors opened with a loud wheezing noise. "That's my bus," he excused himself lamely, backing up to climb into the vehicle.

"Alright. Goodbye," Gwen said, still smiling.

"Goodbye, Merlin," Morgana said, nodding at him.

Merlin nodded back, smiling at Gwen. "Bye."

As he sat down in a seat, leaning his forehead against the window, he sighed. His life seemed to become more complicated each day. Will was fussing over him and Arthur, Freya _liked_ him, Gwen thought he was dating Freya, Morgana – whom he didn't even know – was acting downright strange, and Arthur... Well, Arthur was Arthur.

His cell phone vibrated in his pocket, and he absentmindedly picked it up, a small smile forming on his face as he read the text message from Will.

_Hey! Guess what? I have a few days off from school in two weeks, and my mum says I can go to visit you. Talk to your uncle about it, alright?_

Merlin quickly typed in his reply, and hit 'send'.

_Great! I'm sure Gaius won't mind. Are you sure you want to hang out with me at school, though, when you have the time off?_

After just a few minutes, Will's reply came: _Are you kidding? I need to look after you! And I'm looking forward to meeting this Freya you've told me so much about._

Upon reading it, Merlin let out a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sigh, before leaning his head against the window again, tucking the phone back into his pocket. He really was looking forward to seeing Will again. For once, he had something to look forward to.

A small smile played over his lips as he looked out, his eyes finding the few small white snowflakes that were falling from the sky, landing on the ground and staying there. Slowly, gradually, the ground was covered in a thin, white carpet, covering up the dusty, man-made world.

* * *

_A/n: I'm sorry this is so... so... oh, I don't even know. And it's long overdue. I know I promised you guys a quicker update than last time, but I had the **worst** writer's block **ever**. Seriously. I couldn't even look at a book, because it made me depressed, since I couldn't write anything myself. The worst thing is, it's not over yet, so I had to force this chapter out of my head and onto the screen (because I had it in my head, but the words just refused to come to me). And I think it turned out kind of... weird. And not as I had planned. But what the hell. I thought you guys really deserved another chapter, so here you go, and I hope you enjoyed it!_

_As always, please review (you know how much Arthur and Merlin love their reviewers). And I **swear** that I will have the next chapter up as soon as possible, even with this stupid writer's block. _

_Well, bye now._


	7. Vortex

"So..." Merlin was sitting by the kitchen table, opposite of Gaius, chewing on some kind of cereal. He had been zoning out a lot lately. He just didn't have the time to think about everything. One of the things he didn't have enough time to worry about was what he was eating. "Will's coming to visit in two weeks." Gaius raised his eyebrows while taking a sip of his morning coffee, and Merlin hurried to add: "If that's okay with you, of course."

"Who is Will?" Gaius asked, looking genuinely surprised.

"He's my best friend," Merlin replied, shoving another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. "They've got a few days off from school in Ealdor, so his mother said he could come to visit me. You don't mind, do you?"

Gaius shrugged his shoulders. "I guess not."

Merlin smiled before glancing up at the clock on the wall. "Oh, shit!" he exclaimed, practically jumping up from his seat. "I'm late for school. I'll see you later, Gaius." He started running around the room, gathering his books and stuffing them into his bag, heading for the door.

However, he halted suddenly at the sound of Gaius' voice: "Merlin."

"What?" he breathed, his hand on the doorknob.

"Are you alright?" There was genuine concern in the old man's voice, his eyes revealing the worry that his usually blank facial expression hid.

Merlin cracked up in a smile, silently praying that Gaius didn't know him as well as he might think he did. "I'm fine," he replied, his grip tightening around the strap of the messenger bag. "Really, I'm... I'm fine, Gaius. But thanks for worrying about me." Then, he headed out the door without waiting for a reply from his uncle, running for the bus stop.

He made it just in time, and he was still catching his breath when he sank down into the seat next to Arthur. He made sure to tell himself that the only reason he sat down next to the blonde was because all the other seats were taken.

"Good morning," he mumbled breathlessly, receiving a nod from Arthur. Silently cursing the blonde, he went on staring at his hands, waiting for the awkwardness of the moment to be over.

"So, did you and Freya have fun yesterday?"

Merlin blinked. "What?"

"You. Freya. The library." Arthur looked about as bored as he sounded, his eyes staring out the window, and yet, he somehow managed to scare Merlin. "Morgana said she saw the two of you together." A slight smirk formed on his lips at he looked briefly at Merlin through the corners of his eyes. "There's no need to lie about it. You could have just told me you had a date with your girlfriend. Though I don't really understand what kind of date going to the library is."

"We're just friends."

"Oh, is that right?" Arthur sounded amused. "You told me you like her, remember?"

Merlin opened his mouth to speak, only to close it again as he realized that he didn't know what to say. What could he say? That he only said that because Arthur was a royal pain in the arse that just refused to listen, and he had gotten tired of arguing? Then why hadn't he just kept pretending to be Freya's boyfriend?

"We're just friends," he repeated, feeling slightly stupid.

"No, you're not," Arthur said matter-of-factly, and Merlin felt a sudden urge to punch him. However, he refrained from doing anything, knowing it wouldn't do him any good, anyway, and the two of them sat in silence all the way to school.

School was hell. Merlin's gaze kept moving to Arthur, and the blonde was ice cold, not offering as much as a mocking glance in return. So Merlin was stuck wondering what the hell he had done wrong. Sure, he had lied about going to the library by himself, but Arthur didn't really seem to care about that. What he did seem to care about, though, was Freya, though Merlin couldn't understand why, even if his life had depended on it.

He briefly wondered if Arthur would have cared so much if he had known that Merlin and Freya were just friends. He probably would, though, either way. Arthur didn't like the fact that Merlin had a life (even if it was just barely).

At lunch, he sat with Arthur at their usual table, and the blonde still treated him coldly, though he at least had the courtesy to look at Merlin, and he muttered a few insults every time Merlin asked him if he was feeling alright.

In the end, he gave up trying to communicate with Arthur, and just kept on following him around the rest of the day, waiting for it to be over. Arthur appeared to be sulking, though over what, Merlin didn't have the slightest idea.

By the end of the day, when he walked out of the bus, heading for his house, he could feel Arthur's gaze on him. He dared glancing over his shoulder once, and sure enough, Arthur was looking at him, his blue eyes holding some sort of emotion that Merlin couldn't possibly describe, even if he had wanted to. That look scared him. And even though he would never admit it to himself, much less to anyone else, it made his heart beat just a little bit faster.

Freya came over later, after having dropped her bag off at home. Gaius was working late, so they had the house to themselves. They just sat and watched TV and talked and joked and laughed. Merlin was grateful that Freya still wanted to be friends. And, if he was going to be completely honest with himself, he was a little surprised at how easy the atmosphere was. He had expected things to be a little... strained between them, but it wasn't. It could be that Freya found it easier to act naturally around him now than ever, now that she knew exactly _what_ the relationship between them was.

Later, when they both got hungry, they ordered a pizza, and it couldn't have been more than five minutes since it arrived when the doorbell rang again.

Somehow, Merlin felt as if he should have known who it was, but as he opened the door, revealing Arthur Pendragon, it really wouldn't have been an understatement to say that he nearly had a heart attack.

"Sire," he managed to choke out, staring surprised at Arthur. For some reason, the sight of the blonde male in the doorway – in _his_ doorway – knocked the breath out of him. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed to get away," Arthur replied dully, his eyes intentionally avoiding Merlin. "Well? Are you going to invite me in or not?"

Merlin nodded, swallowing nervously. "Sire," he repeated, stepping aside so that Arthur could walk past him into the house. It did not escape him how extremely, insanely and terrifyingly _close_ Arthur was as he stepped in through the doorway, stopping for a short moment to take off his shoes and jacket. As the blonde walked past him, Merlin let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding in, ignoring the tickling heat that rose up in his cheeks.

As he followed Arthur into the living room, he received a confused glance from Freya that quite clearly said "What's he doing here?", while Arthur himself asked, a bit sourly, "What's _she_ doing here?"

"Sorry," Merlin mumbled, a little more than _slightly_ uncomfortable with the fact that Arthur was in his house. As neither of the two seemed to intend to say anything, Merlin mumbled another 'sorry', the words quite evidently having abandoned him.

Freya wanted to leave. It was obvious, the way her gaze seemed to avoid Arthur at any cost, and the way she was shifting slightly in her seat, nervously, uncomfortably. But she made no sign to get up, and after a few seconds of awkward silence, she simply picked up her slice of pizza and resumed eating.

Merlin dumped down on the couch, getting a pizza slice of his own, before asking Arthur: "Do you want some?", briefly wondering if he should have added a 'sire' after that.

The blonde replied by shrugging his shoulders and sitting down next to Merlin, and for a split second, Merlin stopped breathing. Then he remembered it was only Arthur, they had been sitting next to each other countless times before, and the blonde really shouldn't be having this effect on him. He should feel scared and annoyed and trampled on, not... whatever it was that he was feeling.

The three of them ended up sitting and watching TV. There was some sort of mutual agreement that talking would be too awkward, since Arthur obviously disliked Freya, and Freya and Merlin weren't particularly fond of Arthur. So they all just sat and stared at the screen. Merlin didn't know about the others, but he, for one, was too far gone in his own thoughts to pay attention to whatever show was on TV.

After what seemed like forever, Merlin noticed Freya looking at him, questioningly. With a small sigh, he nodded at her, and he could see that she was really concentrating on not jumping up and running out the door. Instead, she got up slowly, mumbling an awkward 'I should go home' as she started towards the door.

"I'll see you to the door," Merlin said quickly, standing up and stepping past Arthur, receiving a bored glance from the blonde and a grateful smile from Freya.

"You're blushing," the dark-haired girl stated quietly once they were both safely out of the room. She looked knowingly at Merlin, and he snorted at her.

"What are you implying?"

Freya smiled innocently. "I'm not implying anything. I'm just saying you should talk to him. I might not like him much, but," – she shuddered lightly, smiling playfully – "if you do, you two might figure things out."

"There is nothing to figure out," Merlin shot back. "He thinks I'm boring, and I think he's a bastard. That's as far as it goes."

"You just tell yourself that." Freya laughed, her hand awkwardly find its way to rest on Merlin's shoulder, her eyes piercing his. "But you and I both know that it goes a bit deeper than that."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because you're blushing."

Merlin shook his head. "No. You're wrong." He was hissing quietly by now, as loud as he could without Arthur hearing. "I can't stand him."

"Maybe," Freya mused, "but that's only half the truth."

"No," Merlin repeated, shrugging the brunette's hand off his shoulder. "No way. _No_. I am _not_ in love with Arthur Pendragon."

Abruptly Freya turner her attention back to putting on her jacket, her eyes deliberately avoiding looking at Merlin as she pulled up the zipper of the jacket, but as she opened the door, she walked backwards outside, a partially genuine, partially devious smile playing on her lips. "That's all I needed to hear. I'll see you tomorrow." Then she set off down the street.

Merlin closed the door after her. He stood there for a while, his hand on the door handle, as he tried to figure out what their conversation had been all about; what Freya had meant by what she said. _That's all I needed to hear_. What was that supposed to mean?

What she had been saying was ridiculous, though, he decided as he walked back into the living room, resuming his place on the sofa, next to Arthur. After all, there was no way he would ever fall in love with someone like Arthur. It was just not possible. He was a complete jerk, and Merlin... Merlin was Merlin. And guys like Merlin didn't fall for guys like Arthur.

_Oh, really_? a treacherous voice within his mind whispered. _You fell for Darren, didn't you? What's the big difference between him and Arthur?_

_Shut up_, he thought harshly, not bothering to think that it was his own mind that had been thinking that, subconsciously. _Darren is nothing like Arthur_.

It didn't really matter, though, even if the two blondes were the same type. It didn't matter at all. Because Merlin was not in love with Arthur.

Or was he?

"Why did you come here?" he asked Arthur. Not that the blonde was particularly pleasant talking to, but at the moment, he would do anything to get away from his thoughts.

Arthur turned his head to look at him, and Merlin found himself holding his breath when those beautiful blue eyes locked with his, blonde eyebrows raised above them. "I already told you. I needed to get away."

"Well, yeah, but..." Merlin cursed himself for even trying to have a conversation with this guy. "There has to be some reason why you needed to. And besides, I thought you didn't like me. Why would you come here?"

"Better you than _him_," Arthur said, letting out a sound that was something between a sigh and a snarl. When Merlin just looked confusedly at him, he rolled his eyes, continuing, "I had a fight with my father. That's all you need to know."

"You know..." Merlin took a deep breath, not really believing what he was about to say. "You know you could tell me, if you wanted to."

Arthur looked at him with amusement in his eyes. "Yeah? Well, I don't want to. And you should learn to keep your nose out of other people's business and stay where you belong. Which is somewhere, doing your homework."

"Right." Merlin sighed as he got up again, heading for the kitchen. "Oh, and there is one more thing," he said, turning back just before leaving the room. "How long will you be staying?"

"Meaning?"

"Do you plan on spending the night here?"

If he were anyone else, Merlin would have said Arthur looked grateful. But Arthur wasn't the type of guy to be grateful. He took everything for granted, like the spoiled brat he was. "I think I might, since you're offering," he said. And, for only a short moment, it was there again. That deep look in his eyes, that showed a mixture of overwhelming emotion that Merlin couldn't even begin to understand. For just a few short seconds, his eyes were a vortex of feelings – all kinds of feelings – and for reasons that Merlin had only recently begun to understand, it made his legs feel like jelly.

"Right." He cleared his throat, turning his eyes away from Arthur (he was pretty sure that he'd been staring like a love struck fool). "I'll get a bed ready for you in the guest bedroom."

"I wouldn't mind sleeping on the sofa," Arthur argued lamely, but Merlin merely shook his head.

"No, I'll take care of it. Just... make yourself at home."

He backed up the last few steps out of the living room. As soon as he reached the kitchen, where his school bag lay on the table, he dumped down on one of the chairs, his head in his hands, elbows rested on the table.

This could not be happening. It just could _not_. He wouldn't go so far as to say that he was in love with Arthur – which he knew was what Freya was thinking – but he could no longer deny that underneath the strong dislike for Arthur, there was something more. And that something, whatever it was, wasn't healthy.

It could have been easy getting over it, had it not been for the way Arthur looked at him ever so rarely. No matter how hard he tried, Merlin could not forget that look, and even though Arthur probably didn't even realize it, it had him distracted from everything and anything for hours at a time afterwards. Normally, it would have been great to see some sort of genuine emotion on Arthur's face, but it was all too much at once, and Arthur was impossible to read. And Merlin just couldn't get his mind off the gorgeous blonde, not even if his life depended on it.

Sighing, he reached for his bag, pulling out his History books and starting to read, taking notes as he did so, without really realizing what he was reading.

* * *

_A/n: Sorry, sorry, sorry, I'm taking far too long to update. And I know it's the lamest excuse in the world, but I really don't have time for much other than school lately. But it's the truth. I really need to get my grades up if I'm going to study psychology when I graduate. But, since my grades have actually improved since I started trying to do well in school, I'll be celebrating with writing a little more the next period of time. And, since I have winter break next week, and I'll be spending a lot of my time alone in my brother's apartment, I'll have lots of time to write (and do math). _

_So basically, what I'm saying is that I'll try to update as often as possible, though the chapters are going to be fairly far apart. Again, sorry about that. Also, I would like you to keep in mind that when it comes to writing, I need to prioritize my book that is close to a finish, and that is hopefully going to be published in a few years time._

_Sorry about the rant. But, since I have said so much already, it probably won't hurt to say a little more. So, thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! You really keep me going. And thanks to all of you who read this, but don't review. I don't blame you for not reviewing, I know how hard it is to come up with something to say about the story. Anyway, thank you all for reading this story. I really do appreciate it. I really can't say how much it means to me that people enjoy my writing._

_But enough of that! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and please review! And I'll see you in the next chapter. -blows kisses-  
_


	8. Habits

Gaius hadn't been too pleased when he came home from work and found Arthur Pendragon in his living room. He did nothing and said nothing to show that he was angry, but Merlin knew that he was. Gaius knew, if not to the full extent, what the mere thought of Arthur did to Merlin; what Merlin allowed Arthur to do to him. Merlin himself knew it too well. He was becoming worse than he had been before he came here, even if it might not seem like it. Everyone thought he was getting better. But they didn't look much further than his appearance, because bruises were what they were expecting, if another guy like Darren had showed up. And Merlin, as always, was doing a remarkable job at hiding his suffering personality, the one that was obedient to Arthur, and only to Arthur.

He hated himself for it, he really did. If his mother found out, if Will found out, it would kill them. There was nothing he wanted less than to hurt them. But what was there to do? This was the only life he knew, and he had no idea how to change it. And he would certainly not ask someone to help him with it. Even if he had nothing else, he still had his pride. A part of it, anyway. If nothing else, he could take care of his own problems. It was only Arthur, after all. He was not going to let the blonde break him.

And of course, he would not admit that he already had.

The bus trip to school the next morning was quiet. Both Arthur and Merlin looked at anything except the other, avoiding conversation at all costs. Merlin because anything he said would be awkward, after the realization that hit him last night, and Arthur because he was Arthur. Arthur hadn't seemed particularly fond of talking lately, and right now, Merlin was eternally grateful for it. It also made him wonder, though, why the blonde was so quiet. Sometimes, he thought that Arthur might be hiding something, something about himself or his life, that he was afraid that he would say if he spoke too much, or got too close to anyone. Other times, he pushed the thought aside, telling himself it was ridiculous. After all, what could someone like Arthur possibly have to hide? Why would a guy like Arthur _want_ to hide anything?

Today was one of the days when he was of the first assurance. Somehow, he felt as if there had to be something deeper to Arthur, judging by _that look_ (Merlin shuddered just at the thought of it) that he sometimes gave Merlin. The one that held an overwhelming amount of pain, love, happiness, sorrow, friendship, betrayal, trust, sadness, and anger all at once. The emotions in those blue eyes were impossible to separate, as wicked and messed up as Arthur was.

School was awkward, too. Sure enough, Merlin could escape into the world of education as usual, the outside world forgotten once he had his mind set on a specific task, but Arthur wouldn't quite leave his head. He was always there, taunting him, and every time an image of the blonde popped up in his mind, it made him try even harder to block it out. Still, no matter how hard he tried, Arthur was still there, within his mind, driving him mad. But Merlin wouldn't give up. He wouldn't let Arthur win. He wouldn't let Arthur have the satisfaction of knowing what he had done to him.

At lunch, Arthur sat with his friends again. But somehow, the way he talked to them was different from before. Partially because he barely talked, but there was something else, something that had changed, something Merlin couldn't quite put his finger on.

Shaking his head, Merlin let out a small sigh. "Arthur is going to be the death of me," he muttered to Freya, who sat next to him. "I just don't _get_ him. He's an idiot."

"You finally realized?" Freya said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. But Merlin knew what she really meant, and he knew that she wasn't talking about how big an idiot Arthur was.

"I'm not in love with him," he stated quietly, earning a smile from the dark-haired girl next to him.

"I know."

"Then why did you want me to admit my feelings?"

"Because you can't get over him until you've realized that you have feelings for him, be it love or a crush. And, if you had talked to him, he might have understood, or at least pretended to understand, and let you go."

Merlin chuckled. "Arthur isn't the kind of person you get over," he said darkly, stealing another glance at the blonde through the corner of his eye. A lot could be said about Arthur Pendragon, but he was far from bad-looking.

"You can't possibly know that until you try." Freya sighed loudly. "I know this is probably the last thing you want to hear, but I worry about you, you know. The fact that you _like_ someone like him is a little disturbing."

Another chuckle forced its way up his throat. "I'd say it's a little _more_ disturbing that deep down, I don't _want_ to get over this... whatever it is."

Freya eyed him cautiously as she stuffed another piece of salad into her mouth. "I don't really believe that. You're not like _that_, Merlin."

Merlin knew what she meant, and he almost laughed at the fact that she seemed not to know him at all. Then again, no one knew. No one except Will.

"Alright. Suit yourself," he said tonelessly, cursing himself the second the words left his mouth. He was falling into his old habits, he knew, being all indifferent and pushing people away. And he cursed Arthur for making him into this person again. He cursed the blonde for turning him back into someone fucked-up and disturbed and so incredibly indifferent to anything and everything. Of course, deep down, he still cared – more about everyone else than himself, though – but he had always tried to shut it out. And now, it seemed, his previous self was returning.

It had been so easy to change his attitude once he got away. No one knew him here. There was really nothing that could hurt him – not after Darren. He'd already been through the worst, after all. But then Arthur showed up, and Arthur was getting worse by the minute. What was bothering Merlin the most, though, was that he didn't _understand_ him. Arthur was kind of a mystery, and it was drawing him deeper in, whether he liked it or not.

He wondered when he had decided to just follow Arthur and see what happened. He wondered when he'd stopped fighting. If he'd ever been fighting at all. Hadn't he wanted to get better? Even though he would never admit that something was wrong, hadn't he wanted to be normal? To not go to school every day, knowing what kind of torture was waiting for him there, and both dread it and look forward to it?

He shook his head, tearing his gaze away from Arthur. Somehow, he always ended up staring at the blonde. No matter what he did, he just couldn't keep his eyes away from him. "Let's get out of here," he mumbled to Freya. "I can't stand being in the same room as him."

The dark-haired girl just nodded, getting up and holding his hand as they half-walked, half-ran out of the cafeteria.

Once they were out in the hallway, Merlin leaned back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. He blinked a few times, breathing heavily, pushing back the tears of anger that were pressing behind his eyes. "This is going to kill me in the end," he breathed, looking at Freya with a slight smile on his lips. "Do you think Arthur could get charged with murder if I die?" He laughed bitterly, only cutting it off when he saw the terrified expression on Freya's face.

"Merlin..." She took his hand, holding it up to her face and softly kissing each of his fingers. "Merlin, what's happening to you? Don't say things like that. You're scaring me." A quiet sob slipped past her lips, and two silent tears fell to the ground.

"Freya?" Merlin frowned, his voice uncertain and questioning. "I... It was just a joke. I'm not going to die... God, you don't really think I would kill myself, do you?"

"I don't want to think that you would." She looked up at him with teary eyes, sniffling quietly. "But even the best of people can do horrible things, Merlin, if they're pushed too far over the edge."

Merlin smiled. "Well, that's not going to happen to me. I'm not going to leave you alone. Just trust me, alright? I'll get through this."

"Alright." Freya smiled meekly, wiping the tears from her face.

"Well, then," Merlin said, leaning forwards to hug the smaller girl, "stop worrying. Nothing bad is going to happen. We're just dealing with an overdramatic Arthur Pendragon, that's all. He's too much of a coward to hurt anyone. Now, let's get to class."

Freya nodded, and the two of them made their way to the classroom, still holding hands. Merlin was aware that to the eyes of the world, they looked like a young couple in love, the way they huddled together, as if they were trying to shut the world out and just stay together in that one moment forever. But in reality, there was definitely nothing romantic, or even remotely happy, about that moment for either of them. Merlin wasn't sure how it had happened, but they were both kind of messed up inside, both of them deal with the other's problems, even though neither of them knew what those problems were. He knew that Freya had problems in her life, even though she never talked about it, and he had no idea what was wrong, and he was carrying the weight on it on his shoulders, just like he could see that she carried the weight of his past, and the way it was repeating itself with Arthur.

Somehow, Merlin made it through the rest of the day. The words to express his relief when the bell rang, even if he was still with Arthur, did not exist. He simply could not wait to get home and away from the blonde, even though he knew a part of him was going to miss Arthur until they met again the next day.

But, when the bus stopped at his bus stop, and he stood up to get off, not even bothering to say goodbye to Arthur, considering the blonde hadn't talked to him all day, a hand grabbed his wrist, pulling him back down in the seat.

"Sire, what are you doing? I have to go home to finish up your homework. Let go of me."

"No," Arthur stated simply. He kept staring into the air in front of him until the bus started driving again. "You're coming home with me."

Merlin's jaw dropped, and he stared at Arthur for several minutes before he managed to regain he composure. He was going to Arthur's house. Arthur, for some strange reason or another, wanted to bring Merlin home with him. And quite frankly, Merlin wasn't sure whether to be thrilled or terrified.

* * *

_**A/n:** I'm getting lazy with these updates, aren't I? No need to asnwer that. I am. And I'm sorry. There is no one to blame but me. Because I do this. I start a new story, and I love writing it, and I manage to convince myself that this time, it's going to be different, I'm going to work hard on updating it regularly, and then I just hit the wall. I get stuck once, half-way through a scene, and I stop writing for a month. It's a horrible habit, I know, and I'm working really hard on improving, but... It really is hard to change an old habit. But I am doing my very best on continuing and eventually finishing this story. Because you guys deserve it._

_And for those of you that might read my Beyblade fics, just know that I will continue writing them all as soon as possible. But, as of right now, this story is my number one priority. Sorry 'bout that, I know some people might have been waiting a year for an update of Betrayal. But I'm working on it. Really._

_So, I guess all there's left to say is, I hope you enjoyed, and please review!_


	9. Another turning point

Merlin was still in shock when the bus stopped, and Arthur had to push him out of his seat and off the bus. Neither of them had said more during the bus ride, and Arthur didn't look like he was about to. He did, however, roll his eyes when they arrived at his house, and Merlin stopped and stared at it in awe.

"Come on," he muttered coldly, keeping his gaze off Merlin. "I haven't got all day."

"You live here?" Merlin managed to choke out, still gawking at the house. The word 'castle' would be more descriptive.

"Yes, I do." Arthur sounded extremely bored, and Merlin sighed as he started walking to catch up with Arthur, and was showed in through the front door. He decided there and then that he would keep his eyes on his feet and not look at the rest of the house.

The entrance hall was bigger than Merlin's living room. He didn't have a clue as to how someone could afford living in such a big house, unless, of course, they were royalty. Merlin allowed himself a short smile at the thought of Arthur as a prince.

To add to the effect of perfection, the entire place was shiny and flawless. Even the doormat was unusually clean. It looked almost as if someone cleaned it about every fifteen minutes.

Merlin didn't fully manage to stick to his promise of not looking at any part of the house. He kept looking up from his feet every once in a while, and he caught small glimpses of paintings, a statue, a woman with a vacuum cleaner, and, through an open door, a room with a wall covered in mirrors.

When Arthur finally led him into a smaller room and closed the door behind them, Merlin was relieved to see that Arthur's bedroom was fairly normal. There was a bed (no matter how big it was, a bed is a bed), a wardrobe, a desk with a laptop placed on it, and a small sofa in front of a TV. At least it seemed reasonable to Merlin that filthy rich kids got to have TVs in their bedrooms, so it was probably normal by Arthur's standards. Oversized and expensive as shit by Merlin's.

Arthur dumped down on the sofa and turned on the TV, and Merlin was surprised by the obvious lack of orders. He looked around the room some more, noticing posters of rock bands on the walls and a guitar standing in a corner. He'd never really thought Arthur was the type of guy that was into any kind of music at all, least of all rock, but he refrained from asking.

"Umm, sire?" he asked tentatively. "What should I do?"

Arthur looked at him with a bored expression on his face. "I don't know. But for God's sake, don't just stand there like a moron. Don't you have some homework or something you can do?"

"I finished your math assignment yesterday, sire, and your homework for Spanish and History. There is still the essay for English, but I didn't bring your books."

"Then do your own." Arthur shook his head before returning his attention to the TV. "I suppose you haven't had much time for that, lately."

Merlin nodded numbly and sat down by the desk, finding the math books in his bag. He only had a couple more problems to solve for the assignment that was due in two days. It would be good to just get it over with and not have to worry about it anymore (he barely had enough time to do all his homework now that he was working for Arthur), but his mind kept straying from the task. His hand kept writing, though, even when he was only half aware of what he was doing. He'd done it all before, after all. The night before, in fact, and the solutions were all fresh in his memory.

He glanced over at Arthur a couple of times. The blonde sat with his back towards Merlin, his eyes obviously on the TV screen. An old episode of Doctor Who was on, with David Tennant as the Doctor. Merlin had used to like that show, back when he had the time to watch TV. Before he started spending all of his time covering up the bruises that Darren was so fond of giving him, and later moved to his uncle and became Arthur's slave.

With only one more math problem to solve, he decided he'd finish it up later. Being in the same room as Arthur was too... distracting. And as much as he hated himself for that thought, he didn't try to deny it. There was something different about Arthur, something that Merlin found himself attracted to, no matter how insufferable Arthur was.

Arthur turned his head lazily as Merlin closed his books and put them back into his bag, which hung neatly from the chair he was sitting on. "Done already?" Merlin felt as if there should have been a mocking tone in that question, since it came from Arthur, after all, but there wasn't.

"I don't have all of my books with me. There is nothing more I _can_ do right now," Merlin replied quietly. It really wasn't that far from the truth. He had almost finished his math assignment, and the books that he needed to finish the rest of his homework were at home.

"Hm. Alright, then. Well, make yourself at home." Arthur looked him in the eye for a short moment, and turned back to the TV.

Merlin remained sitting awkwardly by the writing desk, his eyes studying one of the posters on the walls. The background was mainly white, and there were three men – all dressed exclusively in black – posing, their shadows drawing grey outlines on the plain white background. The words 'Green Day' were printed in capital letters above the band, together with what looked like a hand grenade shaped like a heart.

"Arthur?" he asked, without thinking, and he mentally punched himself once the word had left his mouth.

"What?"

"Why did you bring me here?" Merlin looked over at Arthur, not sure if he should be scared or not, only to see Arthur's usual bored expression looking back at him. He was quiet for what seemed like forever, but he eventually opened his mouth to speak...

...only to be interrupted by a knock on the door. Arthur sighed and rolled his eyes, muttering a 'come in'. The door opened to reveal a man that looked like he was in his early fifties.

"Arthur," the man said, almost tentatively. "We need to talk."

Arthur looked like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world. "Dad," he said tonelessly, not even bothering to look at the man. "You're not blind, are you? I have company. We can talk later."

"I'm leaving tonight, and I won't be back for a week."

"Chances are, both of us will still be alive when you get back. We can talk then."

"Fine." Uther Pendragon sighed, glancing over at Merlin with a friendly yet tired smile. "Nice to meet you. I'm Uther Pendragon, Arthur's father."

Merlin smiled politely back at him. "Likewise, sir. I'm Merlin Emrys."

Uther nodded courteously, still smiling, before stepping backwards through the door and closing it.

Arthur let out a sigh once his father was gone. "Finally got rid of him. He'll be out of the house within the hour. You can leave then."

Merlin nodded numbly. He was just an excuse so that Arthur wouldn't have to talk to his father. Why he would go out of his way to get out of a conversation with Uther, Merlin didn't know, but he couldn't have helped realizing that Arthur really couldn't stand his father. It was clear as day, really. But still, he felt his heart sink a little as the realization of why Arthur had brought him to his house hit him. Deep down, he had probably had some hope that maybe Arthur saw him as more than someone who did his homework; that maybe, just maybe, Arthur could think of him as something resembling a friend.

That was ridiculous, though. Arthur didn't care about anyone, least of all Merlin. But he just couldn't help hoping that there could be something more to their relationship than there was. Because for some sick reason, Arthur was a person that he wanted to be close to. More than he loved hanging out with Freya, more than he looked forward to seeing Will again, he wanted Arthur to care about him.

He ended up sitting next to Arthur on the sofa, after the blonde muttered something about 'not sitting there and stare at the wall like another fool', staring at the TV screen without really noticing what was going on in the show.

Eventually, the episode was over and the commercials started. Arthur stood up and went over to the corner where the guitar stood, picking it up and sitting down on the bed with it. And without caring that Merlin was there, he started playing. Merlin was quite sure he heard the word 'fuck', after two chords that he assumed Arthur had played wrong, before the blonde started playing for real, without stopping to grumble over mistakes. And when he began to sing... _God,_ his voice sounded amazing.

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road. Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go. So make the best of this test, and don't ask why. It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time..." His voice sounded like that of an angel, though slightly rough. His fingers played tenderly, yet firmly over the strings, and his lips looked perfect as they formed the words for that glorious voice. Arthur looked amazing when he sang, even more so than usual. Like nothing else existed in the world, and he was... happy. Merlin had never thought he'd use that word to describe Arthur.

"Did you..." Merlin cleared his throat, looking nervously at Arthur as he finished playing the song. "Did you write that?"

For a moment, Arthur looked as if he was going to smile, but then he just shook his head and said, "No."

"Oh." Merlin bit his lips. "Well, it was really good, anyway. You have a great voice."

"Right." Arthur snorted. "What would you know about it?"

"Well, I..." Sighing, Merlin turned his gaze down. "I wouldn't really know much about music, but... I really do think you're good." _Just a shame you're such an ass._

Arthur looked unimpressed. He had that look of his again, that made him look both bored and arrogant. Once again, Merlin wondered how he did it. "I would have said thanks, if your opinion mattered to me."

Merlin frowned. He was getting sick of Arthur acting like a spoiled brat. "Look, I know you think you're better than everyone, but that's no excuse to treat them like they're nobody."

Putting the guitar aside, the blonde got up from the bed, walking dangerously slowly over to where Merlin sat, grabbing the other male's shirt and pulling him up. "Who are you to tell me what I'm thinking?" he said, his voice dripping with poison. "What do you know about me? That I'm the spoiled brat of a son that the richest man in town has? Do you really think my life has been perfect? Do you think I don't have my problems? What do you _really_ know about me, Merlin? Nothing!"

Merlin was sick of it. Did Arthur think his life was bad? Even with his so-called problems and whatever issues he had with his father, Merlin would gladly trade it for his own life. Merlin didn't _have_ a father. Merlin barely had a mother, because she spent all her time working, because being a single mother was far from cheap. Merlin had been beat up in school every day since he was _ten_. And Arthur thought _his_ life was bad? Merlin had had enough. Enough.

"You know nothing about my life!" Arthur shouted, so loudly Merlin was sure the whole town could hear him. "You know nothing about me, of my family, or my problems. You have no idea–"

"No," Merlin cut him off. "_You_ have no idea. You have no idea how much you hurt me every fucking day. You have no idea how much I _hate_ you. Do you know why I came here? Do you know why I live with my uncle instead of with my mother?" He laughed bitterly. "Of course you don't. I was bullied, Arthur. I was beat up every day. _Every day_. You have no idea how hard it was to hide all the bruises. But I had to, because I thought it was my fault, and my mother would be crushed if she ever found out." He was screaming by now, but he didn't care. It felt so good to finally get it all out, to get to yell at Arthur, to get to cry without feeling like a wimp for it. No matter what might happen afterwards. "But it's not that easy to hide when you end up in the fucking hospital! She sent me away so that I could get some peace, so I could live my life without being afraid of going to school, and then _you_ showed up, and you started turning me back into the self-hating emo kid that I've been trying so hard not to be. Fuck, I hate you so much."

_And still, I can't get enough of you. Still, I don't want to be apart from you. Still, I'm well on the way to developing an unhealthy crush on you._ Merlin felt ashamed at his own thoughts as he wiped away the tears that had been running down his cheeks.

Staring at him in disbelief, Arthur slowly let go his grip on Merlin's shirt. He took a hesitant step back, biting his lower lip briefly and turning his eyes away. "I didn't know." His voice was so quiet, Merlin could barely hear it. He wasn't sure if it was supposed to be an excuse or an apology, but it didn't matter. Either way, it wasn't enough.

Finally, Arthur gathered the strength to look at Merlin again, and he said firmly (though not so angrily as before), "Go."

Feeling strangely empty after his rant, Merlin nodded, grabbed his bag, and headed for the door. With his hand at the doorknob, he halted, looking hesitantly at Arthur over his shoulder. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, right?" He cursed himself for saying it, but he knew deep down that despite the things he'd just said, he _liked_ Arthur... somehow.

"Sure." Arthur's voice sounded hollow, and it didn't do much for comforting Merlin, but it would have to do. For now, at least.

When he stole one last glimpse of Arthur on his way out, the blonde looked pained.

* * *

Sorry about the extremely late update, etc, etc. I'm guessing you all know I'm lazy by now... Anyway! Merlin finally stood up for himself! Kind of. Even though he was a dumbass and gave in to his Arthur-addiction in just a couple of minutes. But still.

Oh, and the song Arthur plays is Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day. I figured, if he had a Green Day poster, he might as well play a Green Day song. He's turning out to be more and more like me... o_x

Oh, right, and please review. :)


	10. So goodbye

Merlin wouldn't let himself regret having told Arthur about his past. Arthur might be mad at him for yelling at him like that, but it had felt so good to just let out all of the bottled up emotions. Besides, it was bound to happen sooner or later anyway. He couldn't have pretended that everything was okay forever. But he was anxious as to what was going to happen between him and Arthur now. Because he'd said he hated Arthur, and God, how stupid he had been to say something like that. Even though it was true, it was also only half of the truth.

When he got on the bus the next day, he sat down in the seat next to Arthur, as usual. The blonde neither looked at him nor spoke to him, but this had become normal on the bus ride to school, so Merlin didn't question it. Arthur seemed to have recovered from yesterday's shock, and the expression on his face was back to its usual arrogant and bored self. However, Merlin couldn't forget how he had looked the day before, almost as if in pain. Was it just his imagination, or did Arthur tense up a bit and stare a little more intently out of the window when Merlin sat down next to him?

The silence continued when they arrived at school and walked towards their lockers. Arthur seemed to deliberately look at anything but Merlin, and at this point, Merlin was starting to wonder if something was wrong. By now, Arthur should have started complaining about something, and Merlin would be pretending to listen while nodding and making sounds of agreement. Or Arthur should have asked Merlin if he'd finished all the homework, or he should have been telling Merlin that they were going to the library or to boxing practice after school. Or he should mutter something about how yesterday was a shock, but it didn't change anything, and Merlin would shrug it off and say that he hadn't expected it to. But Arthur was completely silent. At least until they reached their lockers.

"Give me my books," the blonde mumbled, still avoiding looking at Merlin.

"Yes, sire," Merlin replied, somehow relieved that Arthur finally had said something to him. He found Arthur's Spanish books in his locker and handed them to the blonde. Arthur accepted them with a small smile (it didn't last for more than a split second, but Merlin was sure it was a smile), and put them into his backpack, ready for the first lesson of the day.

"And the rest of them."

"Sire?" Merlin frowned. "Those _are_ all of your Spanish books."

Arthur shook his head. "No, I don't mean my Spanish books. I mean _all_ of my books. Give them to me."

Slightly confused as to where this order came from, Merlin obeyed, getting all of Arthur's books from his locker and his bag and handing them to him. "Why?" he asked, cursing himself for that slight hint of sadness in his voice.

"I was thinking I should start doing my own homework." Arthur shrugged, staring into his locker.

"I'm perfectly capable of doing it," Merlin commented dryly. Where the hell did this come from? Didn't Arthur think the work Merlin did for him was good enough anymore? He mentally punched himself once those thoughts crossed his mind. If Arthur decided to do his own school work, then Merlin would have time to actually have a life. More importantly, he would have time to sleep. He should be ecstatic. So why was he disappointed?

"So am I," Arthur said, still without looking at him. "And it's _my_ work. Besides, you don't look like you've been getting a whole lot of sleep lately."

"Oh." Merlin looked away, not sure what to say. "But... I really don't mind, you know."

"That's just because..." Arthur stopped himself, finally turning his head to look at Merlin. His beautiful blue eyes were empty, and he had a weak smile on his lips. "Look, I've been thinking since yesterday, and..." He shook his head shortly, and Merlin was sure Arthur was going to yell at him for the way he had spoken to him. "I think it would be better if we didn't see each other for a while."

Merlin pretended not to understand. He didn't want to understand. "We go to the same school. We have all the same classes. We see each other every day."

"You know perfectly well what I mean, Merlin."

"But _why_, Arthur?" Merlin looked stubbornly into Arthur's eyes, taking a step closer to him.

Arthur took a step back to restore the distance between them. "Jesus, Merlin, why are you so persistent? Maybe I don't _want_ to be around you. Did you ever consider that? Maybe I'm tired of you. Maybe I just don't like you."

Feeling his eyes widening and tears forming in the corners of them, Merlin stepped back, forcing a calm expression onto his face. "Of course. I apologize, sire."

Returning his attention to the locker, Arthur said, "Well, I'm going to class. Goodbye, Merlin."

Astonished, Merlin watched as Arthur walked away. One minute, he had seemed almost regretting, almost _caring_, and the next... The next, his voice was angry and his eyes were hard, and he said straight out that he was just plain _tired_ of Merlin.

_And he called me Merlin_. Merlin slammed his locker shut and rested his forehead against the cool metal. _He called me by my first name. He never calls me by my first name._

When he showed up in Spanish, Merlin noticed that the seat next to Arthur, where he usually sat, was occupied. By one of Arthur's friends, one of the brainless jocks. Arthur seemed to ignore him the way he had ignored Merlin on the way to school. Realizing that sitting next to Arthur probably wouldn't have been the best thing to do at the moment, anyway, Merlin overlooked it and settled down in an empty seat in the back of the classroom.

Merlin just couldn't bring himself to pay attention in class. He just sat there, staring emptily at the blank page in his notebook while the teacher babbled about irregular verbs and whatever. He didn't care. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Nothing but Arthur.

What the hell was going on with Arthur? He had always seemed conflicted, somehow troubled, almost as if torn between two different sides. Two different paths. But right now, he didn't make any sense. He had always made it clear that he didn't like Merlin; that was why he made his life a living hell. So why let go of him so easily? Was it because Merlin had said he hated him?

"I am such an idiot," Merlin muttered to himself, glaring at the open notebook. Of course he'd crossed the line. Of course Arthur was mad at him. He was just trying to be nice about it.

Merlin had never experienced time moving so slowly. By the time the bell rang at lunch and Merlin made his way to the cafeteria to meet Freya, he felt as if years had passed.

"Hey." Freya grinned as Merlin sank down at their table. Her smile disappeared quickly when she saw the upset expression on Merlin's face. "What's wrong? Did Arthur do something to you?"

"No." Merlin smiled meekly. "It's just… we had a fight, and… he's not speaking to me. I'm free from him, I suppose."

"Then what's with that sad face? You should be ecstatic!"

Merlin shook his head. "Is it wrong of me to want him back? And _fuck,_ I sound like a thirteen year old girl that just got dumped by her boyfriend."

"Of course it's wrong of you! He's treating you like dirt, Merlin, and everyone knows it, but we're all terrified of him and his father. And you want that back?" She looked angrily at him before she – ever the drama queen – clasped a hand over her mouth and stared at him in shock and fear. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"

"I'm not in love with him!" Merlin hissed, and it was his turn to glare, now. "I've already told you. I'm… obsessed with him. That's far from the same."

Freya raised an eyebrow. "Well, you'll end up in love with him if you don't get rid of that attitude. If he's not speaking to you, then he won't want you back, anyway. It won't do you any good to sit around moping about it."

"I know." Merlin sighed. "I know. But I just started realizing that he's human, just like the rest of us, he has a family and he has feelings, but no one seems to actually know him. I can't help it, I just… I want to know him."

"Merlin…"

"Did you know he plays the guitar?"

Freya shook her head. "No, I didn't. And I don't care. It doesn't matter, Merlin. He's not speaking to you, so he obviously doesn't want you around, and no matter what you want, that's not going to change the fact that Arthur is an asshole, and you shouldn't be thinking about him."

"Fine." Merlin crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his lower lip out in a pout, and Freya couldn't help but laugh at him.

"How about we pretend we never had this conversation?"

Merlin shrugged. "Works for me."

But despite Freya's attempts at cheering him up, and despite how much Merlin wanted to pretend Arthur had never existed, the blonde just wouldn't leave his mind. It was as if he'd opened a door, seen an empty spot of land, and decided that Merlin's head would be a nice place to build a house.

He still couldn't pay attention in class. He just sat there and stared at the books. Every once in a while, his gaze moved on its own will, and he ended up staring at Arthur like a lovestruck fool. Once, Arthur turned his head, but before their eyes had the chance to meet, Merlin returned his gaze to his books.

When school was finally over for the day, and Merlin was walking along the hallways, heading for the exit, someone bumped into him, and he nearly dropped his bag in surprise. He barely heard a frighteningly familiar voice mumble "Sorry" before he saw Arthur disappearing around a corner. Merlin turned his eyes to the floor, wishing hearing _that_ voice hadn't made his heart beat just a little bit faster.

"Goodbye, Arthur."

No one noticed the one tear that fell down on the floor, and no one noticed the dark-haired boy wiping away the trace it had made while trickling down his cheek.

* * *

_Oh my, that went fast. I know it's short, but at least it didn't take three months! Also, I want to thank **Merthur Dreamer** here on FF for giving me the longest and most awesome review **ever**. I am so in love with you right now. Not that I don't love all of you guys, because I do. And this is starting to sound a little creepy, so let's move on. I know this might not be what some of you **wanted** to happen in this chapter, but it's all part of my plan! I'm not saying it's a brilliant plan, but I kind of want to stick to it (since it'll be the first time ever that I manage to do that)._

_Also, I got a question from someone (don't remember who; sorry) about how many chapters I have planned for this story. And really have no idea. I do have the story planned out, but I haven't really divided it into chapters. It looks a whole lot different on the paper (or on the screen) than it does when it's just in my head, so it's just too difficult to plan chapter by chapter from beginning to end. _

_And finally, I want to thank everyone who has reviewed! And everyone who reads this story. You have no idea how much it means to me. So, I guess all there's left to say is: Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review!  
_


	11. Will

Merlin grinned. Freya stood awkwardly next to him, not sure what to do. Will walked up to them, a backpack slung over his right shoulder. "It's great to see you again," he grinned, hugging Merlin tightly. Merlin coughed.

"Will, you're smothering me."

"Right. Sorry." Will let go, still grinning widely. "And you must be Freya that Merlin has told me so much about," he said, turning to the dark-haired girl next to Merlin. "It's nice to finally get to meet you." Freya tentatively reached out her hand, and instead of shaking it, Will leaned down and kissed it. Merlin chuckled, while Freya looked shocked beyond belief.

"Um... Hi," she said, smiling slightly, as Will straightened back up.

"Sorry." Will smiled, letting go of Freya's hand. "I just couldn't help myself. The way Merlin talks about you, I was expecting to meet a princess taken right out from a fairytale."

Freya looked at Merlin with a smug expression. "Oh, really?"

Merlin shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I had to say _something_. He wouldn't be interested if I told him how boring you really are."

"How charming, Merlin. No wonder you don't get any girls."

Will laughed, and Merlin just smiled. He'd gotten used to Freya's insults long ago.

"Anyway," he said, changing the subject. "We should probably get home, Will. How about you, Freya? What are you doing now?"

"I'm going home, too," she replied, nodding to emphasise her words. "I have to finish up that English report before I go to bed." She smiled shyly at Will. "It was nice meeting you. I'll see you two tomorrow, I suppose."

"Yes, you will." Merlin smiled. "See you tomorrow."

With a final nod, Freya turned around and hurried away, and Merlin could only imagine the embarrassed look on her face. She had looked at Will as if he were the embodiment of beauty.

"So," the blonde said, looking around at the bus station, "how are we getting to your place?"

"We walk," Merlin replied, turning in the direction of his new home. "It's only a ten minute walk from here. You don't mind, do you?"

Will just shook his head in reply, and they started walking along the road. Merlin enjoyed the comfortable silence between them while they walked side by side, the only sound coming from a few cars passing by.

"You look good," Will said after a while. Merlin looked at him, not quite sure what to make of the statement, and his friend chuckled quietly. "I mean, when you came back for Christmas, you looked sort of tired. You don't anymore."

"Right." Merlin wasn't sure whether he wanted to smile or frown. "That might be because I've actually had the time to sleep the past week."

Will raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Merlin replied, wishing the tone in his voice wasn't quite so bitter. "Arthur kind of fired me."

"What, the kid that made you do his homework?"

Merlin nodded.

"Well, that's great!" Will grinned. "For you and me both. I won't have to kill him, now."

Merlin couldn't help but chuckle. "I bet killing him was the only reason you had to come here at all."

"Why, of course. What other reason could I possible have?" Will snickered.

Merlin just rolled his eyes, and they continued walking, resuming their comfortable silence. It really was good to see Will again. Though Freya was a great friend, hanging out with Will was a whole different thing. He'd been Merlin's best friend for as long as they could both remember. Nothing could ever replace the special bond shared between childhood friends.

When they arrived at Merlin's home, Gaius was in the living room, reading the newspaper. He looked up when the boys entered, smiling in that old man way of his. "Will," he said, standing up and laying the newspaper on the table. "How good to see you again. My, you have grown since the last time I've seen you."

Will smiled politely back. "It's good to see you too, Gaius. It must have been years since you came to Ealdor."

"It's been too long, yes." Gaius sighed. "Perhaps I'll come with Merlin the next time he goes to visit Hunith."

"That would be great," Merlin smiled. "I'm sure my mother would be thrilled to see you again." He looked at the clock on the wall, and then back at Will. "It's getting late, though. We should get to bed. We have school tomorrow, after all."

Will nodded. "Yeah. Goodnight, Gaius."

"Goodnight, boys."

* * *

Arthur wasn't on the bus that morning. He hadn't been, since the last time Merlin had spoken to him. Merlin didn't know how he got to school, but he was fairly sure the reason Arthur wasn't on the bus was because he didn't want to see Merlin. And Merlin really understood why Arthur would try to avoid him. Whenever they bumped into each other, it was awkward. Neither of them said anything, and they both avoided looking at each other. There was a strange tension between them, that somehow made Merlin want to cry, to throw himself into Arthur's arms and apologize, to say it was all his fault, to beg for the blonde to take him back, to let him do his homework again, anything, as long as it didn't mean they'd never talk to each other again.

But he didn't, of course. And not only because Arthur would most likely punch him. Because he knew Arthur was a bad influence on him. Because he knew that it would kill Freya and Will and Gaius if he did that, now that he'd finally gotten rid of Arthur.

"I still don't get why you want to come to school with me," Merlin mumbled as they were walking towards his locker to pick up his Spanish books before class. "You get two days off from school, and what do you do? You go to another school!" He shook his head, laughing lightly. "I really don't get you, Will."

"I have to look after you, don't I?" Will grinned mischievously. "Besides, going to school with you means I'll get to see Freya again."

"Of course." Merlin rolled his eyes.

When they reached his locker, Merlin cursed inwardly, just like he did every day. Because Arthur was there, just next to it, by his own locker, like he was every day. But he kept walking, he opened his locker and put his math books inside, as well as picking up his history books and putting them in his bag. And he looked at Arthur through the corner of his eye when the blonde walked away, until he disappeared around a corner.

"He's handsome," Will stated, noticing the way Merlin looked at Arthur. "You got your eyes on him?"

Merlin forced a laugh. "I wouldn't say it like that."

"Really? Have you seen the way you look at him?"

"Yeah, I have. And you're wrong."

Will raised his eyebrows. "Is that right? Well, unless you've got a crush on him that you're embarrassed of, I bet you wouldn't mind telling me his name."

"Look, Will…" Merlin bit his lip briefly. "Please don't make me do this."

"Make you do what? Tell me the name of your locker neighbour?" The expression on Will's face was challenging.

"Will." Merlin said his name more firmly this time, his hand clenching around the strap of his messenger bag. "That was Arthur."

Will's eyes widened, and Merlin was sure his jaw could drop any minute. "No way. Merlin… Please tell me you don't like him."

"I don't." Merlin wished he sounded more convincing. One of Will's eyebrows was raised, his eyes inspecting Merlin, as if looking for some sort of sign that Arthur had hurt him. "Okay, so maybe I do. Just a little. But not like _that_. I just… I think he's misunderstood. And he doesn't know how to act around people. That doesn't make him a bad person."

Will just shook his head. "Let's just get to class."

Merlin nodded, and they walked in silence along the hallway, heading for Gwen's classroom. Will walked beside him, with a concerned look in his eyes that Merlin tried his hardest to ignore. So what if he missed Arthur? Even though the blonde hadn't exactly treated him nicely, that was all in the past now. And it wasn't as if it affected his life in any way, now. He didn't cry himself to sleep at night, he still ate and slept, and he was no less happy than he had ever been. He just wanted Arthur to somehow be a part of that life.

The teachers didn't mind having Will in the class, even though he wasn't a student at the school. Probably just because he was Merlin's friend. Merlin was the favourite of all the teachers, and of course, they couldn't imagine him having friends that weren't just as perfect as him. Merlin felt the urge to laugh. Apparently, they hadn't noticed his relationship – or whatever the hell he should call it – with Arthur.

At lunch, Will and Merlin sat with Freya at their usual table. Merlin was chewing thoughtfully on a ham and cheese sandwich while Will and Freya were talking about everything and anything, and Freya was giggling like a thirteen-year-old. He would be happy for them, Merlin thought, if they got together, even though it would be difficult for them to be together when they lived in different towns. He just hoped Will wouldn't decide on a whim to move to Camelot and move in with him and Gaius just because of Freya. Because honestly, as much as Merlin loved Will and appreciated their friendship, he just couldn't stand living with the guy. Will would never stop pestering him about Arthur.

"He's looking at you," Will suddenly said, pulling Merlin out of his thoughts. As Merlin glanced at him, Will nodded towards the table where Arthur sat with his pack of wolves, and sure enough, every once in a while, Arthur glanced at Merlin through the corner of his eyes.

Merlin shrugged. "So? He's allowed to look at whatever he wants," he said dismissively, taking another bite of his sandwich. Honestly, he didn't really know what to make of it, but thinking about it wasn't going to make it any more clear to him.

"So," Will said, persistent as ever, "what if he wants you back?"

Merlin forced a chuckle. "Honestly, Will, you make it sound like we're some kind of clichéd teenage couple that's been through a nasty break-up." He gave Will his best reassuring smile. "I'm sure he's found someone new to do his homework for him. And besides, he really _is_ allowed to look wherever he wants. Maybe he's just looking at some hot girl behind me."

Will shook his head, sharing a knowing glance with Freya. "He's totally in denial," he said, earning a nod from the dark-haired girl.

"Completely," Freya agreed.

Merlin responded by rolling his eyes and tossing a piece of his sandwich at each of them. "Oh, just shut up, the both of you," he said, failing to hide a laugh.

Will and Freya seemed to get him, though, because Arthur wasn't mentioned for the rest of the day.

* * *

_Oh my, it's been so long since I last updated... Well, I **have** been fairly busy, what with getting dumped by my boyfriend, making out with a new guy who decided to become my personal stalker, getting a new boyfriend, getting dumped by my new boyfriend, begging for him to take me back, being given a second chance, and getting dumped again. Not to mention, this was my senior year in high school. So it's been all tests and projects every minute of every hour of every day._

_(I got rid of the stalker, though, so don't worry about that.)  
_

_Anyway! I got you a new chapter! And Will is in it! He and Freya would be so adorable together, wouldn't they? \(^_^)/  
_


	12. Just another apology

It was the day after, and Merlin was in Spanish. Will sat in the back with Freya, and while his two best friends were busy giggling and blushing – Freya did that a good deal more than Will, though, considering she was, well, the _girl_ – Merlin sat next to a guy called Dylan. They had never really talked much, though Dylan had, the very same morning, expressed genuine happiness on Merlin's behalf, since he had finally escaped Arthur's slavery. And that had been the end to their in-between-classes small talk. Merlin had never been a people person, and Dylan seemed rather afraid of talking too much to Merlin. People were still scared because of Arthur, he guessed. It would take some time before anyone – himself included – could manage not to think of him as Arthur's possession.

The teacher was babbling something about a project they were supposed to be doing, and something about putting them in pairs.

"Emrys, you'll be with Pendragon," he said in his rather monotonous voice. "Williams, you'll be with Farro, Tucker, you'll…"

Merlin stopped listening. Will and Freya shot him a concerned glance from where they sat in the back of the classroom, mouthing something about complaining about his pairing. Merlin couldn't help but agree with them. He _should_ complain. Now that he'd finally gotten away from Arthur, he should just accept being thrown into a project with him. But some tiny part of him didn't _want_ to complain. That tiny part of him that was governed by his heart, and that wouldn't listen to common sense.

But how bad could it be, really? He knew Arthur. To some degree, at least. The blonde would probably just leave him to do the project on his own. Then Merlin could turn it in with both of their names on the paper, and they wouldn't really have to talk at all. The closest he would have to be to Arthur was across the classroom.

The students all abandoned their seats to team up with their partners, and start discussing the project. Merlin saw Will through the corner of his eye, starting to make his way over through what suddenly seemed like a sea of students, but Arthur beat him to it.

"I'm not going to let you do it all on your own," was all the blonde said. He stared at the white plaster wall, refusing to look Merlin in the eye. "I'm going to do my part."

Merlin blinked, startled. What the hell was Arthur playing at? "It's all right," he said, a slightly bitter tone to his voice, though he tried to avoid it. "I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself. It'll be easy."

The blonde shook his head in reply. "No. You've done too much of my work for me already. You're not doing that anymore."

Merlin could only stare at the taller male, shocked.

"The others are too noisy, let's go to the library to work," Arthur continued. He then proceeded to make his way to the door, not checking to see if Merlin was following. Turning his head to look at Will, he saw an expression on the other's face that looked almost desperate.

_I'm sorry_, Merlin mouthed with a slight, insecure shrug, before turning to follow Arthur, who was on his way out the door.

"Is there something going on between Freya and that friend of yours?" Arthur asked once they were both safely out in the hallway. Merlin couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. First Arthur insisted on doing his schoolwork for himself, and now he was small talking. Merlin was temped to ask if he was feeling ill, because this was as unlike Arthur as it could possibly get.

"I think so," he said instead, not wanting to offend the blonde. "I hope so. They would make a good couple."

Arthur crinkled his nose. "I always thought you and Freya were going out."

If Merlin had had something to drink, he would have spit it out. Instead, his head only spun to stare at Arthur. "No!" he exclaimed. Then, calming his voice, he repeated, "No. We're just friends, always have been. She's… not my type, anyway."

"Oh. Okay."

There was something strange about the tone in Arthur's voice. Somehow relieved and disappointed at the same time. Merlin couldn't possibly understand what Arthur could have to be either relieved or disappointed about, though.

The assignment was easy enough. They had to write a paper on an important point in Spanish history – in Spanish, of course. Merlin really _could_ have done it himself, but since Arthur insisted on working, for once in his life, they sat there, across the table from each other, working in silence. Arthur still didn't look at Merlin. He hadn't, ever since they stopped talking. Not when he thought Merlin could see, at least – Merlin still didn't know what to make of the poorly disguised glances from the day before.

Every once in a while, Arthur would glare at the wall behind Merlin, looking like he really wanted to say something, but didn't know what.

"How is the guitar playing going?" Merlin asked when Arthur did this for what must be the twentieth time, just to give the blonde something to talk about.

Arthur shrugged, his expression growing less frustrated. "It's going alright, I guess," he mumbled. "It's just something to do. To keep me from getting bored." The right corner of his mouth twitched slightly, in something that might (by Arthur's standards, at least) resemble a smile. "I tend to get bored a lot."

"So it would seem." Merlin kept his eyes on the textbooks, and he assumed Arthur was doing the same. "And the boxing?"

"Also something to do when I'm bored."

"Is there nothing that you're passionate about? You know, that you actually _enjoy_ doing?"

Arthur hesitated before answering. Longer than he should have, Merlin thought. When he finally dared to look at the blonde, he appeared to be lost in thought. "Not really," he finally replied, an oddly sad tone in his voice.

Turning his eyes away from Arthur, Merlin glanced at the clock. "The lesson's almost over," he noted out loud. "We should probably head back to the classroom soon. You know, to collect our bags and all."

Arthur just nodded, and they gathered together their things in silence, before returning to the classroom.

"I do like music, though," Arthur said quietly as he stood with his hand on the door handle. "I like listening to it. I like the melodies." He hesitated, still just standing there, not opening the door. "The lyrics just always seemed empty and pointless to me."

Merlin wasn't really sure what to say, so he just mumbled, "Oh, okay." Arthur seemed to be satisfied with the answer, because he snapped out of his near-paralyzed state and opened the door.

Arthur looked as if he wanted to continue, say something more, but as the door opened, he closed his mouth, and resumed his bored expression. Merlin didn't really think much about it. Anything Arthur said at this point couldn't really mean much. It didn't matter. He'd gotten rid of the guy. Finally. And Arthur seemed to be doing just fine without Merlin, too.

The day went by in a blur, really. Merlin was just doing his work, paying attention in classes, and hanging out with his two best friends. And it felt great. It was just so easy, to not have to worry about Arthur, or having double the amount of homework, or his mother finding out he was being bullied again. It was great.

At the end of the day, he was standing by his locker, fetching some books. Will was waiting further down the hall, with Freya, by her locker, as Arthur showed up next to Merlin. He opened his locker, stuffed a couple of books inside, and then just stood there for a while, seemingly not knowing what to do.

"What's your type, then?" he finally asked, and Merlin could only raise his eyebrows at him.

"Sorry, what?"

Arthur stared intently into his locker, as if there was something extremely interesting inside it. "You said Freya's not your type. What _is_?"

"Oh. Well, you know... Nothing in particular. Just not her." His mind was completely blown, and all he could do was to stand there and stare at Arthur, hoping that his jaw wouldn't drop. He must look completely helpless as he stood there, eyes wide open.

Arthur still didn't look at him, though. He just stood there, still staring into his locker. Until he closed it, slowly, calmly, and was about to start walking down the hallway. He stopped for a second, looking at Merlin through the corner of his eye, mumbling, "Sorry."

"What for?" Merlin asked, but Arthur simply shook his head and continued to walk, not looking back. Not even once. Merlin stood and looked after him for a few moments, before he remembered that Will and Freya were waiting for him, and he hastily closed his locker and returned to his friends.

* * *

_The long awaited 12th chapter. I swear, there is not a person in the world who is worse at updating than me. I've had this all written down and saved on my laptop for **months**, I just.. forgot about it. I'm so sorry!  
_

_Either way, chapter thirteen is in the making, and will be up as soon as I have finished (and remembered) it!_


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